Overview

• About 60,000 UnitedHealthcare members now face out-of-network costs for nonemergency care at Johns Hopkins hospitals and clinics in the Baltimore–Washington region.
• Affected plans include employer coverage, Individual/Family plans, Medicare Advantage and Medicaid, while Johns Hopkins facilities in Florida are not affected.
• UnitedHealthcare says emergency care at Hopkins will be covered at in-network rates, and patients in active or complex treatment can request continuity-of-care approvals; scheduled transplants will remain covered.
• UnitedHealthcare says Hopkins sought contract terms allowing it to exclude certain employer groups and to require payment on claims after members left its plans; Hopkins cites excessive prior authorizations, denials and payment delays.
• Veterans Affairs Community Care Network enrollees are not impacted, and both organizations say negotiations are continuing without a set timeline.