White River Health announced it will no longer participate in UnitedHealthcare’s Medicare Advantage network starting January 1, 2027. The decision affects White River Medical Center in Batesville, Stone County Medical Center in Mountain View, and White River Health outpatient clinics throughout North Central Arkansas.
State retirees, teachers, and patients with VA-sponsored coverage through UnitedHealthcare will not experience any changes, according to Shawna Ives, chief financial officer for White River Health.
“While we’re going to be out of network with UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage, this does not affect retiree plans,” Ives explained. “If you’re an employee-sponsored retiree plan through UHC or a VA-sponsored program through UHC, this will not affect you.”
Ives stated the decision followed over a year of attempts to address operational issues with UnitedHealthcare. Ultimately, the health system decided to terminate the contract, citing patient needs as a priority.
“We’ve been working for over a year now trying to partner with United to work on the excess problems that we’re having with them,” Ives said. “After a year of trying to work on that partnership, we’ve decided the best thing for our patients is that if we leave the United Medicare Advantage network.”
With Medicare’s annual open enrollment period running from October 15 through December 7, patients currently enrolled in UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans have time to transition to an in-network plan before the change takes effect.
White River Health assured the community that it continues to accept other carriers, including Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield, Devoted, Healthspring, Arkansas Integrated Providers Dual Advantage, Tribute Select, and Traditional Medicare.