Jefferson Health announced Monday it’s moving to terminate Lehigh Valley Health Network’s contract with UnitedHealthcare, claiming the country’s largest insurer has been paying less than its negotiated rate for years, according to an announcement posted online.
LVHN, part of Jefferson Health after a 2024 merger, said its contracts with United will remain in effect until Jan. 25, 2026, for Medicare Advantage patients and April 25, 2026, for patients with commercial insurance through their employers.
The decision to drop United could lead to higher out-of-pocket costs for thousands of patients next year..
“For more than two years, Lehigh Valley Health Network, now part of Jefferson Health, has been working to establish an equitable relationship with UnitedHealthcare,” Dr. Edmund Pribitkin, chief physician executive at Jefferson Health, said in a video posted online. “Unfortunately, our efforts have been met with delays and obstacles as United seeks to continue its unfair payment practices.”
Pribitkin claimed United has not paid negotiated rates since 2021, “leading to reimbursement that is 40% less than expected,” he said in the video.
“Our goal remains to establish an equitable relationship with United, with fair reimbursement levels that will benefit our patients and enable LVHN to continue providing the highest quality care regardless of insurer,” Pribitkin said.
The announcement says United will remain in-network at other Jefferson providers in the Philadelphia region.
LVHN includes 15 hospitals and hundreds of doctors’ offices, rehabilitation locations, ExpressCARE sites and other outpatient care locations in 10 Pennsylvania counties.
The hospitals included in the LVHN are:
- Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest, Allentown
- Lehigh Valley Health Network-Tilghman, Allentown
- Lehigh Valley Health Network-1503 N. Cedar Crest, Allentown
- Lehigh Valley Hospital-17th Street, Allentown
- Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg, Bethlehem
- Lehigh Valley Health Network-Highland Avenue, Bethlehem
- Lehigh Valley Hospital-Dickson City, Dickson City
- Lehigh Valley Hospital-Hecktown Oaks, Easton
- Lehigh Valley Hospital-Pocono, East Stroudsburg
- Lehigh Valley Hospital-Gilbertsville, Gilbertsville
- Lehigh Valley Hospital-Hazleton, Hazleton
- Lehigh Valley Hospital-Carbon, Lehighton
- Lehigh Valley Hospital-Macungie, Macungie
- Lehigh Valley Hospital-Schuylkill E. Norwegian Street, Pottsville
- Lehigh Valley Hospital-Schuylkill S. Jackson Street, Pottsville
In a statement, a spokesperson for United claimed LVHN and Jefferson are making “misleading and potentially false public statements” as a negotiating tactic.
“We received a notice from Lehigh Valley Health Network today intending to potentially end our contract, which we are in the process of validating. We delivered a proposal to Lehigh Valley in April. We have yet to receive a counter proposal from the health system, whose last proposal was provided in December 2024 and included a near 30% price hike in the first year of our contract,” a UnitedHealthcare spokesperson said.
“Lehigh Valley is making misleading and potentially false public statements about the status of our relationship in the middle of the Medicare Annual Enrollment period, presumably as a negotiating tactic,” the statement continued. “We ask Lehigh Valley to join us at the negotiating table and work toward an agreement that is affordable rather than using consumers as leverage to significantly drive up health care costs for Pennsylvanians and local companies.”
Last month, Johns Hopkins Medicine ended contract negotiations with United, leaving thousands of patients in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. without in-network health insurance.
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