White River Health, an Arkansas hospital system, says it will leave UnitedHealthcare’s Medicare Advantage network on Jan. 1, 2027, and UnitedHealthcare says that happens only if the two sides fail to sign a new contract. Medicare’s annual enrollment closes Dec. 7, so Arkansas members have less than six weeks to choose between waiting for a deal and moving to a plan that keeps the hospital in network.
A contract that runs through Dec. 31
White River Health’s notice to patients says its hospitals and doctors will no longer be in network for UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage members beginning Jan. 1, 2027. Until then, the notice says, members stay in network through Dec. 31, 2026. Emergency care at White River Health facilities remains covered, according to the same page.
UnitedHealthcare’s own page on the dispute, updated Oct. 20, frames the date differently. Its current contract with the system “remains in effect through Dec. 31, 2026,” the insurer says, and White River would leave its Medicare Advantage plans on Jan. 1 only “if no agreement is reached.” The insurer calls reaching one its “top priority.”…