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The Latest News On Healthcare Reform - If you have United Healthcare/GoldenRule, Orlando, you may be paying more for your Healthcare after Aug 15th.

The size of your network could be increasing or decreasing depending on how contracts with hospitals are negotiated.

United Healthcare/GoldenRule of FL

You may or may not have heard that United Healthcare is in a strong debate with Adventist Health System/Sunbelt (also known as Florida Hospitals). The debate is over whether or not to renew its provider contract, which will terminate Aug 15, 2010. This affects both Group and Individual insurance policies. United Healthcare is committed to bringing the negotiations to a fair and successful conclusion, however they did send out a mailer to all of their insurance agents forecasting a possible termination of that relationship. After Aug 15th, here is a list of Hospital Facilities and ancillary providers that may no longer be part of the United Healthcare/GoldenRule Network, and if this ends up being the case, your insurance will be billed as "out of network" benefits during a stay at these hospitals, should you need them.

Hospital Name	Specialty	County
Florida Hospital - Celebration Health	Hospital	Osceola
Florida Hospital - Zephyrhills	Hospital	Pasco
Florida Hospital - Altamonte	Hospital	Seminole
Florida Hospital - Apopka	Hospital	Orange
Florida Hospital - East	Hospital	Orange
Florida Hospital - Fish	Hospital	Volusia
Florida Hospital - Heartland Medical Center	Hospital	Highlands
Florida Hospital - Kissimmee	Hospital	Osceola
Florida Hospital - Lake Placid	Hospital	Highlands
Florida Hospital - Orlando	Hospital	Orange
Florida Hospital - Waterman	Hospital	Lake
Florida Hospital - Wauchula	Hospital	Hardee
Florida Hospital - Flagler	Hospital	Flagler
Florida Hospital - Ormond	Hospital	Volusia
Florida Hospital - Oceanside	Hospital	Volusia
Florida Hospital - Deland	Hospital	Volusia
Winter Park Memorial Hospital	Hospital	Orange
Florida Children's Hospital	Childrens Hospital	Orange
Florida Hospital CentraCare	Urgent Care	Orange, Osceola, Seminole
HospiceCare	Hospice	Volusia
Florida Pathology Laboratory	Lab and Pathology	Orange, Osceola, Seminole
Florida Hospital Home Infusion	Home Infusion	Orange, Osceola, Seminole
Florida Hospital DME/RT	DME	Orange, Osceola, Seminole
Physicians Surgical Care Center	Ambulatory Surgery	Orange
Florida Radiology Imaging	Ambulatory Surgery	Orange, Seminole

Blue Shield of CA finalizes their contract negotiations.

UC Irvine University Physicians and Surgeons, a specialty medical group, and the UC Irvine Medical Center, a specialty care hospital center, have signed two-year contracts with Blue Shield of California effective retroactively July 15, 2010. They are now both in the Blue Shield of California and Blue Shield of California Life & Health Insurance Company networks.

Members can see these participating providers at network benefit levels as follows:

Plan Type	Medical Center (hospital)	Medical Group (physicians)
HMO	Yes	No
PPO	Yes	Yes
POS – HMO tier	Yes	No
POS – PPO tier	Yes	Yes

This news is an update to our earlier alerts about UC Irvine provider negotiations. The UC Irvine providers were not in our networks for several months, following termination in November 2009. We are very pleased that they are once again in our networks.

The UC Irvine medical group provides over 100 medical services and specialties. UC Irvine Medical Center is a 422-bed medical facility staffed by more than 400 physicians. It is Orange County’s only university medical center and includes:

• UC Irvine Douglas Hospital
• Neuropsychiatric Center
• UC Irvine Regional Burn Center
• H.H. Chao Comprehensive Digestive Disease Center
• University Hospital Tower
• Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
• UC Irvine SeniorHealth Center
• Orange County’s only Level-I Trauma Center

In 2009, UC Irvine was included for the ninth consecutive year in U.S. News & World Report’s list of “America’s Best Hospitals,” with recognition for services in urology and gynecology.

You are a valued Blue Shield broker and we will continue to keep you informed of any changes that affect your clients. We remain committed to providing your clients and their employees with quality healthcare coverage.

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