JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 A local family says an ongoing contract dispute between Baptist Health and Cigna could force them to find new doctors, travel hours for specialized pediatric care and potentially pay thousands of dollars out of pocket if a new agreement is not reached before June 23.<\/p>\n
Amanda and Jason LaPointe are among thousands of Northeast Florida residents who could lose in-network access to Baptist Health facilities if negotiations between the health system and insurance provider Cigna fail.<\/p>\n
Baptist Health said it is \u201cat a critical point\u201d in negotiations and is \u201cvery concerned that Cigna will force Baptist Health hospitals and providers out of network on June 23.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCigna canceled their contract with Baptist Health hospitals. This is not what we want, and it is not our choice,\u201d Baptist said in a statement. \u201cBaptist Health does not want anyone to lose access to the care they need.\u201d<\/p>\n
The LaPointes said they recently received a letter from Baptist warning that their children\u2019s specialized pediatric care could no longer be covered as in-network after June 23.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt kind of makes me angry that it just seems like they\u2019re both pointing fingers still,\u201d Amanda LaPointe said after reading the letter.<\/p>\n
The family\u2019s oldest daughter has hip dysplasia and requires ongoing monitoring from specialists. Their younger daughter previously received speech therapy and underwent surgery through Baptist-affiliated providers.<\/p>\n
Amanda LaPointe said the family has relied on the same pediatric practice since their oldest child was born seven years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve always been great to us, so now to start over it\u2019s kind of stressful,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The family said they are now trying to determine where to continue their daughters\u2019 care, but options for pediatric specialty services in Jacksonville are limited.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor major things like orthopedics, we\u2019re going to have to go probably outside the city,\u201d Jason LaPointe said. \u201cThe only game in town for that in Jacksonville was Wolfson\u2019s and Nemours, and it\u2019s all under the Baptist umbrella.\u201d<\/p>\n
The couple said future appointments may require trips to Orlando or Tampa.<\/p>\n
The potential loss of access to Wolfson Children\u2019s Hospital is one of the family\u2019s biggest concerns. Baptist called Cigna\u2019s decision to terminate its contract with Wolfson \u201cparticularly disappointing\u201d because it could limit access to critical pediatric care in Northeast Florida.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the only dedicated children\u2019s hospital here, we play an irreplaceable role in caring for kids,\u201d Baptist said.<\/p>\n
The LaPointes also worry about the financial impact of continuing care with their current providers if they become out of network.<\/p>\n
When their daughter was referred for physical therapy earlier this year, Amanda LaPointe said Baptist Rehab told her out-of-pocket costs could exceed $3,000 per session.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s just not affordable,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The dispute affects more than just the couple\u2019s children.<\/p>\n
Amanda LaPointe said she continues to receive care from multiple Baptist specialists after experiencing heart failure following the birth of one of her children.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have an army of doctors that literally saved my life when my daughter was born,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Baptist argues it has attempted to reach a compromise, saying it offered Cigna lower rates in hopes the insurer would pass savings on to members and employers. The health system also claims Cigna\u2019s latest proposal would give the insurer greater control over some care decisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe medical decisions should be made by trusted doctors who know their patients,\u201d Baptist said.<\/p>\n
The health system warned that if coverage is denied by an insurer, patients may be required to pay out of pocket for treatments or procedures.<\/p>\n
For patients currently undergoing treatment, Baptist is encouraging them to apply immediately for continuity-of-care coverage through Cigna. The program may allow certain patients \u2014 including those with serious medical conditions, scheduled surgeries, chronic illnesses, high-risk pregnancies or terminal illnesses \u2014 to continue treatment with their current providers for a limited time. However, Baptist noted that Cigna determines eligibility, timelines and required documentation.<\/p>\n
The health system also emphasized that emergency care at Baptist Health and Wolfson Children\u2019s Hospital emergency departments will continue to be covered at in-network rates under federal law. CareSpot Urgent Care centers, Baptist Behavioral Health services and independent physician practices, including Nemours Children\u2019s Health and many OB-GYN groups, are not affected by the dispute.<\/p>\n
Still, the LaPointes say they remain frustrated by what they see as a breakdown in negotiations.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would probably say stop pointing fingers,\u201d Jason LaPointe said. \u201cCigna demanding that Baptist lower their rates and Baptist stating that they\u2019re lowering their rates and Cigna doesn\u2019t want to negotiate or pay.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amanda LaPointe said the potential loss of access is especially concerning for families with children.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re the biggest hospital for kids,\u201d she said. \u201cAnybody in Jacksonville that you ask where you would take your kids in case of an emergency, they would say Wolfson\u2019s. They would say Nemours. So to take that away from such a large group of people, it just seems kind of selfish.\u201d<\/p>\n
Baptist said it remains willing to continue negotiations in the final days before the deadline if Cigna is willing to negotiate \u201cin good faith.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unless a new agreement is reached, Cigna members will lose in-network access to Baptist Health hospitals and employed providers beginning June 23.<\/p>\n
News4Jax has also reached out to Cigna for comment on this story. We are still waiting to hear back. <\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 A local family says an ongoing contract dispute between Baptist Health and Cigna could force…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":311000,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[19137,571,116,118,117],"class_list":["post-310999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-baptist-health","tag-health","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310999\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/311000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}