UnitedHealthcare, Ascension Wisconsin face midnight deadline in contract standoff

MILWAUKEE - Thousands of Wisconsin families may soon be forced to find new doctors as a contract dispute between UnitedHealthcare and Ascension Wisconsin comes down to the wire.

What we know:

The current agreement between the insurer and health system expires at midnight on Oct. 1. Without a deal, Ascension hospitals and doctors could be dropped from UnitedHealthcare’s network, forcing patients to pay significantly higher out-of-pocket costs.

"It’s scary to have to think about kind of starting over," said school social worker Easton Lockwood, who relies on UnitedHealthcare for coverage. "Let’s put people’s health and wellbeing before money. At the end of the day, this is impacting real people and their ability to access healthcare."

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Lockwood added that many teachers share his concerns about losing relationships with trusted providers.

Howard Radin of Mequon said his family faces the same uncertainty.

"We love who we have for our eye doctors in particular, and we don’t want to have to change," he said.

What they're saying:

Both organizations issued statements blaming the other side.

Ascension Wisconsin provided the following response:

"Ascension Wisconsin continues to negotiate with UnitedHealthcare to ensure our patients with UnitedHealthcare coverage can remain in-network with our hospitals, clinics and doctors. 

Unfortunately, UnitedHealthcare — one of the largest and most profitable insurance companies in the country, reporting tens of billions of dollars in annual profits — is not offering reimbursement at what we believe to be fair, sustainable rates that reflect today’s dramatic financial realities facing health systems. In fact, UnitedHealthcare’s proposals represent a drastic shift from our current agreement – changes that we believe could reduce access and affordability and make it harder for many patients to get the care from the medical professionals who know them best. 

We remain at the table and are ready to sign a fair contract but we cannot – and will not – accept terms that we believe threaten the quality and sustainability of care in our community. 

We strongly urge UnitedHealthcare to prioritize the health and welfare of their members and agree to fair terms that ensure continued access to the doctors and hospitals their members and employers trust."

United HealthCare provided the following statement from CEO Dustin Hinton:

"Ascension Wisconsin continues to maintain its demands for unsustainable price hikes that would increase health care costs for consumers and employers. Our top priority is to reach an agreement that is affordable while providing continued, uninterrupted network access to Ascension’s hospitals and providers. We have proposed rate increases that would continue to reimburse Ascension at market-competitive rates while also requesting to extend our current contract to provide additional time to continue discussions. Ascension refused. We urge Ascension to work with us on solutions Wisconsin families and employers can afford."

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Radin said he hopes both sides will find common ground. 

"Please compromise, do what you gotta do," he said. "Something has got to come down and something has got to come up. Make it all work."

As of Tuesday evening, negotiations were ongoing. 

A UnitedHealthcare spokesperson previously told FOX6 that patients already in treatment at an Ascension facility may qualify for "continuity of care" coverage starting Oct. 1.