St. Edward, UnitedHealth reach new insurance agreement

St. Edward Mercy Medical Center in Fort Smith and UnitedHealthcare have reached a contract agreement allowing those insured by UnitedHealth to continue receiving service at the hospital.

A letter dated July 1, 2009, was sent by UnitedHealthcare to its insurance customers in the network of Fort Smith-based St. Edward explaining that negotiations between the insurance provider and the hospital have not produced a new agreement and the previous contract expires July 29. That July 1 advised UnitedHealth customers to make plans if the contract is not renewed and reminded them that Sparks Health System had a current contract with UnitedHealthcare.

St. Edward admits about 14,000 patients a year. The hospital has more than 70 doctors and employs about 1,800.

At the time, officials with both companies said the letter was just a standard part of the process in which there was a “contractual obligation” to notify customers if an agreement was not reached within 30 days a contract expiration.

On Aug. 1, UnitedHealth Network customers in the Fort Smith region were notified that the two parties had reached a new contract agreement. The letter noted: “Recently, you have received a letter indicating that St. Edward’s Mercy Medical Center was no longer participating in the UnitedHealth Network. After that letter was mailed to you, St. Edward’s Mercy Medical Center was reinstated and is participating in the UnitedHealth Network. Consequently, in the future you may receive in-network benefits for services from St. Edward’s Mercy Medical Center as you have in the past.”

(Editor’s note: Someone should advise UnitedHealth that the correct name of the hospital is St. Edward Mercy Medical Center, not St. Edward’s Mercy Medical Center.)