Healthcare Dispute Leaves Many Without Hospital Coverage
With the contract now expired between UnitedHealthcare and BayCare Health System, Seminole Heights residents are likely to start feeling the pinch.
For weeks Tampa Bay area residents had been warned by the BayCare Health System and UnitedHealthcare insurance that contract negotiations weren’t going well. Letters from both parties arrived in the mail, alerting holders of UnitedHealthcare insurance policies that their doctors and favorite hospitals might no longer be covered. The deadline to ink a new deal came and went yesterday without an agreement reached. That now means some 400,000 Tampa Bay area residents with UnitedHealthcare insurance can no longer expect coverage at 11 area hospitals, numerous doctors’ offices and a number of imaging centers and specialized centers. In Seminole Heights, residents who count on St. Joeseph's Hospital for their medical care might have to go …
