(Reuters) – UNITEDHEALTH GROUP dropped
thousands of doctors from its networks in recent weeks, leaving many elderly
patients unsure whether they need to switch plans to continue seeing their doctors,
the Wall St Journal reported on Friday.
The insurer said in October that underfunding
of Medicare Advantage plans for the elderly could not be fully offset by the
company's other healthcare business. The company also reported spending more
healthcare premiums on medical claims in the third quarter, due mainly to
government cuts to payments for Medicare Advantage services.
The Journal report said that doctors in at
least 10 states were notified of being laid off the plans, some citing
"significant changes and pressures in the healthcare environment."
According to the notices, the terminations can be appealed within 30 days.
Tyler Mason, a UnitedHealth spokesperson, was
not immediately available for comment when reached by Reuters.
The insurer told the WSJ that its provider
networks were always changing and that it expected its Medicare Advantage
network to be 85 percent to 90 percent of its current size by the end of 2014.
UnitedHealth is participating in about a dozen
new state insurance markets that launched on October 1 to offer subsidized
health coverage under President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul.
The insurer said previously it planned to
withdraw from some markets in 2014 because of the government funding cuts.
Another top health insurer,
Aetna Inc , also warned in October that it expected slowing growth in 2014
in its Medicare Advantage plans.
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