{"id":484114,"date":"2026-02-22T16:34:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T16:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/484114\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T16:34:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T16:34:15","slug":"as-hospital-health-insurer-battle-over-new-contract-patients-caught-in-the-middle-some-relief-may-be-on-the-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/484114\/","title":{"rendered":"As hospital, health insurer battle over new contract, patients caught in the middle. Some relief may be on the way."},"content":{"rendered":"

Contentious contract talks <\/a>\u00a0between a major health care provider in Connecticut and a high-profile insurer remain unresolved weeks after the existing coverage agreement expired, leaving the future care of as many as 15,000 in limbo and patients caught in the middle of the dispute.<\/p>\n

Experts say the tense tenor of the negotiations between Farmington-based UConn Health<\/a> and health insurance giant Aetna<\/a>, headquartered in Hartford, is not an isolated example. It is becoming increasingly common across the country in talks between health providers and insurers, often playing out publicly.<\/p>\n

In Connecticut, the negotiations have been punctuated a highway billboard campaign by UConn Health.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth sides have reasons for drawing a line in the sand,\u201d Angela S. Mattie, a professor of management and medical services at Quinnipiac University<\/a> in Hamden, said, with rising health care costs at the core of the dispute. \u201cThis isn\u2019t just Connecticut, its nationwide. Who loses here are the patients. So the patients are now stuck with the uncertainty of the market which, in itself, can cause a lot of angst and anxiety.\u201d<\/p>\n

Without a contract between provider and the health insurer, patients may find themselves suddenly \u201cout-of-network\u201d and facing significantly higher out-of-pocket costs to be treated by the same physician or other provider. The shift also can set off a scramble to find new doctors or specialists that accept the patient\u2019s insurance.<\/p>\n

\"Aetna'sAetna’s massive headquarters on Farmington Avenue in Hartford’s Asylum Hill neighborhood. (Aaron Flaum\/Hartford Courant)<\/p>\n

Some relief for patients of UConn Health \u2014 an arm of the University of Connecticut<\/a> \u2014 with Aetna coverage may soon be on the way. The existing contract expired Nov. 30.<\/p>\n

In a statement to The Courant late last week with a tone that turned down the volume, Aetna said: \u201cWe\u2019re continuing to have collaborative conversations with UConn and expect to have more to share next week.\u201d<\/p>\n

UConn Health\u2019s chief executive Andy Agwunobi issued this statement to The Courant on the issue:\u00a0\u201cUConn Health continues to work closely with Aetna in ongoing discussions aimed at reaching an agreement that ensures patients\u2019 access to our high-quality care. We are optimistic that we will soon reach a resolution. Throughout this process, our priority remains centered on patient access and long-term sustainability.\u201d<\/p>\n

State Comptroller Sean Scanlon<\/a> said late last week that the negotiations between UConn Health and Aetna \u2014 owned by Woonsocket, RI-based CVS Health Corp. \u2014 now appear to be on the \u201cone-yard line.\u201d<\/p>\n

As comptroller, Scanlon runs the state\u2019s largest employer-sponsored health plan, covering state and municipal employees and retirees, as well as their dependents. Scanlon said he doesn\u2019t take sides in talks such as Aetna-UConn Health, but he said he works behind-the-scenes, encouraging both parties to reach a resolution.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, these disputes are becoming both more common, and the period of dispute is becoming longer, Scanlon said.<\/p>\n

In December, four members of Connecticut\u2019s Congressional delegation \u2014 U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal<\/a> and Christopher S. Murphy<\/a>, and U.S. Reps. John B. Larson<\/a> and Rosa L. DeLauro<\/a> \u2014 wrote to the top executives of Aetna and UConn Health urging a quick resolution to the dispute.<\/p>\n

\"StephanieStephanie Nicholson waters her houseplants in her home in the Quaker Hill neighborhood of Waterford. Nicholson worries that a lack of contract between her insurer Aetna and UConn Health will force her out-of-network. (Aaron Flaum\/Hartford Courant)<\/p>\n

The Dec. 8 letter said the delegation had heard from worried constituents, prompting concern among the delegation about possible financial hardship \u201cor worse \u2014 require them to forgo medically necessary services because they cannot afford such services.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Shouldn\u2019t have to fight\u2019<\/p>\n

Stephanie Nicholson knows that worry well.<\/p>\n

The Waterford resident makes the hour-plus ride to UConn Health to see specialists that monitor her multiple sclerosis \u2014 diagnosed when she was 21 \u2014 and the after effects of surgery to remove a brain tumor in 2022. She\u2019s seen many of the same doctors for years, following some of them to UConn Health.<\/p>\n

Nicholson, 56, is covered by Aetna through her husband\u2019s employer, an aerospace and defense company. If she sought care as an out-of-network patient, Nicholson said she and would face thousands of dollars of additional, out-of-pocket costs annually. The only other choice of health insurance from her husband\u2019s employer also is out-of-network for UConn Health.<\/p>\n

Nicholson, a former restaurant owner who now is on disability, said she worries about finding another primary-care doctor that can refer her to new specialists. Those include a neuro-ophthalmologist who monitors Nicholson\u2019s two-thirds vision loss resulting from the brain surgery.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst, you have to find a primary care doctor that\u2019s actually taking new patients, and then as a new patient, your wait for your first visit is anywhere from six to eight months, if not a year,\u201d Nicholson said. \u201cThey\u2019re just so overloaded.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"StephanieStephanie Nicholson of the Quaker Hill neighborhood in Waterford sees a team of specialists at UConn Health for her multiple sclerosis, but worries about her insurance coverage. The health system has not reached a contract with her insurer, Aetna, weeks after the previous agreement expired. (Aaron Flaum\/Hartford Courant)<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, in the meantime, then I go without the annual scans, the annual testings \u2014 whether it\u2019s my eyes \u2014 I see my doctor every three to four months \u2014 blood work, things like that. They do different neurological tests when I go up there. They\u2019re all timed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nicholson said her frustration only has grown since the UConn Health\u2019s contract with Aetna, owned by CVS Health Corp., expired on Nov. 30. Some of those covered did not lose their \u201cin-network\u201d status until Feb. 1. Nicholson said she successfully lobbied for an extension that ends March 1.<\/p>\n

\u201cI shouldn\u2019t have to fight to be covered just because you guys can\u2019t agree,\u201d Nicholson said.<\/p>\n

Gaining negotiating clout<\/p>\n

At issue in the contract negotiations are the reimbursement rates for services that Aetna pays to UConn Health \u2014 the parent of John Dempsey Hospital, a network of clinics and more than 700 providers.<\/p>\n

Early on in the contract talks, both Aetna and UConn Health lobbed public accusations that each other was not presenting reasonable proposals. UConn Health said its reimbursement rate was among the lowest for hospitals in Connecticut.<\/p>\n

Quinnipiac\u2019s Mattie said health systems like UConn Health do face sharply rising costs for labor \u2014 especially with the shortage of trained nurses \u2014 pharmaceutical and supplies. On top of that, UConn is a teaching hospital and higher costs associated with training physicians.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo the bottom line is that you have hospitals that have increasing costs and their outcome is to get, from the insurer, more money to cover their costs,\u201d Mattie said.<\/p>\n

\"UConn<\/p>\n

Patrick Raycraft \/ Hartford Cour \/ The Hartford Courant<\/p>\n

UConn Health’s John Dempsey Hospital in Farmington. (File photo)<\/p>\n

A 2025 report<\/a> by the American Hospital Association<\/a> found that hospital expenses increased 5.1% in 2024, faster than the 2.9% inflation costs. Labor costs were the biggest component, the study found, with advertised nursing salaries rising 26.6% faster than inflation, between 2020 and 2024.<\/p>\n

Health care systems \u2014 and hospitals, in particular \u2014 are gaining more clout in negotiations amid rapid consolidation.<\/p>\n

According to KFF<\/a>, a nonprofit organization that provides information, analysis, and research on health care issues, there have been 2,000 hospital mergers nationally since 1998<\/a>, including 428 hospital and health system mergers announced from 2018 to 2023.<\/p>\n

UConn Health also is expanding in a $13 million deal to purchase the ailing Waterbury Hospital<\/a>. The acquisition was recently approved by the state Office of Health Strategy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe share of community hospitals that are part of a larger health system also increased from 53% in 2005 to 68% in 2022,\u201d according to KFF, the former Kaiser Family Foundation. \u201cRelatedly, the share of physicians working for a hospital or in a practice owned at least partially by a hospital or health system increased from 29% in 2012 to 41% in 2022.<\/p>\n

Health insurance squeeze<\/p>\n

On the other side of the negotiations are the health insurers \u201cwho are saying, \u2018Wait a minute, I have employers that are telling me to keep costs down,\u2019 \u201d Mattie said. \u201cSo my outcome is to negotiate the best possible rate.\u201d<\/p>\n

An annual study<\/a> of large and small businesses last fall by KFF found that family premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance reached an average of $26,993 in 2025, with workers contributing $6,850 to the total.<\/p>\n

Family premiums rose by 6%, or $1,408, in 2025 compared with the previous year, similar to the 7% in each of the previous two years. The increase in 2025 compares with general inflation of 2.7% and wage growth of 4% in the same period, according to the KFF study.<\/p>\n

In addition, health insurers have to assess the consequences for their own profitability, Mattie said.<\/p>\n

Once, the negotiations between health insurers and providers were, for the most part, behind closed doors but not anymore, Mattie said.<\/p>\n

UConn Health took out billboards on major highways in Connecticut, part of a strategy to pressure Aetna in the negotiations.<\/p>\n

The health system used a similar strategy<\/a> in early 2025 when it was negotiating with Farmington-based ConnectiCare<\/a>, a unit of California-based Molina Healthcare.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth sides are now using the media to get to patients, to get to the press, to get to the public, to sway,\u201d Mattie said. \u201cSo, they\u2019ve become more sophisticated in making it making it a pr. dance than before. And then, deadlines essentially becomes suggested closing times, not necessarily a deadline. It\u2019s not just UConn-Aetna. These things are happening nationwide.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Contentious contract talks \u00a0between a major health care provider in Connecticut and a high-profile insurer remain unresolved weeks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":484115,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[104607,15364,53215,221465,157673,2000,20242,73315,222977,15861,222978,222979,222976,222974,97,252,253,88311,222975,121628,9378,222972,3,21450,1270,222973,7934,151570,219310,79391,42036,150640],"class_list":{"0":"post-484114","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-care","8":"tag-american-hospital-association","9":"tag-billboards","10":"tag-chris-murphy","11":"tag-comptroller","12":"tag-connecticare","13":"tag-connecticut","14":"tag-connecticut-news","15":"tag-contract-dispute","16":"tag-cost-of-health-care","17":"tag-ct-news","18":"tag-employee-health-insurance-costs","19":"tag-employer-health-insurance-costs","20":"tag-employer-sponsored-health-plans","21":"tag-hamden","22":"tag-health","23":"tag-health-care","24":"tag-healthcare","25":"tag-hospital-consolidation","26":"tag-john-larson","27":"tag-kaiser-family-foundation","28":"tag-kff","29":"tag-local-news-max-image-preview","30":"tag-news","31":"tag-patients","32":"tag-public-relations","33":"tag-quinnipiac-university","34":"tag-richard-blumenthal","35":"tag-rosa-delauro","36":"tag-sean-scanlon","37":"tag-uconn-health","38":"tag-university-of-connecticut","39":"tag-waterbury-hospital"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=484114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/484115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=484114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=484114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=484114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}