“This was not our first choice,” Matthew Perry, president and chief executive of Genesis HealthCare System, writes in a letter posted on the system’s website. “It was our last resort.” The Zanesville, Ohio, health system has told Aetna, UnitedHealthcare, Medical Mutual and CareSource that its Medicare Advantage contracts end after Dec. 31, unless new agreements are reached first.
Four insurers, one cutoff date
Genesis lists the contracts on its “Protecting our Mission” page: Aetna Medicare Advantage, UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage, Medical Mutual of Ohio Medicare Advantage and CareSource Medicare Advantage, along with CareSource’s Medicaid managed care plan. The page says: “Genesis has notified these insurance companies that current contracts will end after Dec. 31, 2026.” Perry’s letter puts the same cutoff as Jan. 1, 2027. Coverage stays the same through Dec. 31. The two phrasings describe one date, since a plan year runs Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, and the first day without a contract is Jan. 1 either way.
The termination is conditional. Genesis says it “continues to work with insurance companies on potential contract extensions and new agreements,” and the page carries a notice that some insurance-related dates may have changed. No new agreement has been announced. Without one, the four Medicare Advantage plans would be out of network for non-emergency care at Genesis starting Jan. 1, 2027…