PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Office of the Attorney General is warning people enrolled in UnitedHealthcare’s Medicare Advantage insurance that stalled negotiations between UnitedHealthcare and Brown University Health mean Brown Health physicians will no longer accept some UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans starting July 1.
Unless Brown Health and UnitedHealthcare reach an agreement, Brown Health physician offices will be designated “out of network” for individuals who are enrolled in certain UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans.
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The insurer and the state’s largest health system have been at an impasse in negotiating a new contract.
The failure to reach a new agreement follows a similar breakdown in contract negotiations over Brown Health hospitals in 2025, which led to those hospitals going out of network with certain UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans.
The reported sticking points are reimbursement rate increases and administrative policies such as prior-approval requirements.
“Rhode Islanders have every right to be frustrated at a health care system that doesn’t work for them,” Attorney General Peter F. Neronha said in a statement. “Once again, patients are caught in the middle of a contract dispute they had no role in creating. When negotiations like this break down, the cost, literally and figuratively, is borne by older adults and people with complex medical needs who suddenly must worry about whether they can keep seeing their doctors or afford their care.”
While Neronha has no authority to force a settlement, he said his office is monitoring the situation to ensure patients have access to the health care they need.
“Given this disruption, UnitedHealthcare and Brown University Health need to know that my Office expects them to be responsive to patient requests and to ensure all the continuity of care resources to which patients are entitled are easily accessible,” he said. “In the meantime, my office will continue strenuously advocating for a system that prioritizes patients rather than using them as bargaining chips.”
A page on the attorney general’s website has been updated to provide answers to frequently asked questions and steps enrollees can take ahead of July 1.
Those steps include considering applying for a “continuity of care” plan for beneficiaries who are in the middle of receiving treatment from a Brown Health doctor. If granted, this allows enrollees to continue seeing their doctor as if they were in network for a period of time. People seeking to apply for continuity of care – or transitional care – can contact UnitedHealthcare using the phone number on their health insurance card, the AG’s office said.
