RALEIGH, N.C. — Thousands of women in North Carolina found themselves without an OB/GYN after their providers and insurers failed to reach an agreement on coverage.
These women were seemingly caught in the middle of contract negotiations between the insurer and Unified Women's Healthcare.
Meghan Hennessy found herself in the middle of a battle between her insurer, Cigna, and her OB/GYN.
"We started getting letters in the mail in December, from Cigna, saying they couldn't come to an agreement with the doctors," said Hennessy. "Then we'd get letters from the doctors saying that they couldn't come to an agreement either with Cigna."
She isn't the only one.
"They were pretty aggressive on both sides. there was a lot of finger pointing," said Julia Brinton, also insured by Cigna.
Both women use providers who are part of Unified Women's Healthcare.
According to their website, UWH is the largest provider of women's healthcare in the Carolinas.
Hennessy goes to one of their providers, Arbor. She's 8-months-pregnant and was able to get Cigna to agree to a "Continuity Of Care" so she could stay with her doctor. However, they are only covering the basics - and she was just diagnosed with gestational diabetes and is paying out of pocket.
"So each appointment is like $400 when I meet with a nutritionist or dietitian or my nurses, and that's like twice a week," she said.
Brinton is in her second trimester and was also able to get a continuity of care exception for her provider, Capital Area OB/GYN. It's standard practice for a pregnant patient to see all providers there - but Brinton says Cigna denied that.
"Cigna's saying unless you see Dr. Richardson you're not going to be covered with an in-network provider," she said.
WRAL learned the sticking point in negotiations is North and South Carolina coverage combined - and it's been tough negotiating one rate for two very different states.
Unified Women's Healthcare says it is in active talks with Cigna.
A spokesperson says, "We are disappointed that Cigna has chosen to push our patients and physicians out of its network for critical OB/GYN services. We are hopeful that we come to a resolution soon."
Cigna says that UWH terminated the contract January 1.
A spokesperson says, "Their unreasonable demands included significant rate increases that would raise costs between 10-50% for the people we serve. We will continue to negotiate with Unified Women’s Healthcare of the Carolinas to reach a fair, affordable agreement so they can return to our network."
