Sarasota Memorial and UnitedHealthcare finalize new Medicare Advantage coverage agreement

Sarasota Memorial Health Care System and UnitedHealthcare finalized a new agreement Friday afternoon that will allow Sarasota Memorial Hospital, its urgent care and outpatient facilities, and First Physicians Group healthcare providers to remain in-network for UnitedHealthcare's Medicare Advantage plan.

Hospital spokeswoman Kim Savage said via email that SMH and UnitedHealthcare were in the process of finalizing the paperwork and confirmed via text message Friday afternoon that the documents were signed.

Additional updates will be shared at smh.com/unitedhealthcare.

UnitedHealthcare shares its updates at uhc.com/sarasota.

The two sides agreed to terms on a one-year contract for UHC’s Medicare Advantage plan and a three-year contract for coverage under United’s employer-sponsored commercial plans.

The contracts will take effect Jan. 1, 2024. Terms of those contracts are considered proprietary information and not disclosed.

The Medicare Advantage negotiations became noteworthy because the deadline occurred after the Dec. 7 Medicare Open Enrollment period, which meant retirees were faced with a choice of remaining with UnitedHealthcare in hopes of a new contract or jumping to another provider.

Roughly 20,000 area retirees who are UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage customers are impacted by the negotiations.

Over the past two years, about 28,000 people covered through UHC employer-sponsored policies sought care through Sarasota Memorial.

Thirty days prior to the end of insurance contracts, companies typically send letters to their clients about the contract status, as well as steps to take should a provider become out-of-network.

A Medicare Advantage open enrollment period will run from Jan. 1-March 31, 2024, when people enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans can choose to change coverage.

The annual Medicare open enrollment period for 2025 coverage will be Oct. 15-Dec, 7, 2024 which will be prior to the end of the anticipated one-year contract.

Savage noted that insurance contract negotiations typically start early in the year, which opens up the possibility that negotiations on a multi-year contract could be completed ahead of that deadline.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota Memorial and UnitedHealthcare sign new coverage agreement