Cigna and Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System Negotiations on Verge of Impacting Patient Care Services

Spartanburg, SC

Heads up, Cigna health insurance holders. If you’ve been using the Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System for your medical needs, you might want to brace yourself for a shake-up in your health care services. Just a quick catch up: the current deal between Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System and Cigna—covering Spartanburg Regional’s hospitals, affiliated doctors, and ancillary providers—is set to expire on the last day of the year. This change is anticipated to affect those on Cigna commercial plans, as well as the related commercial plans and their members.

Spartanburg Regional and Cigna have been trying to hammer out a new contract for over six months. Both sides want a deal, but it’s looking tough. Spartanburg Regional has made it clear that they value their ties with Cigna, remaining dedicated to carrying on good faith negotiations to arrive at a new agreement. However, they’ve sternly called out Cigna in a recent statement, asking the insurer to match up to the commitments by other top national insurance providers, who agreed to rate hikes necessary to meet the escalating labour and supply costs.

The current bone of contention seems to be the proposed rate increase demanded by Spartanburg Regional, which Cigna claims to be “unreasonable” at a whopping 23%. Cigna’s spokesperson expressed their disappointment over this, noting it would raise costs for local employers and their employees—the folks who actually settle the bills. They’re worried that the deal is tilting in Spartanburg’s favour, making them the priciest medical provider in the region.

Cigna has made it loud and clear on their website that they want Spartanburg Regional to stay within their network, but only at fair and affordable rates. They claim that the proposed rate hike in just the first year is more than four times the ongoing inflation rate for medical services—a cost they feel isn’t justified as Cigna’s current rates more than cover Spartanburg Regional’s costs of providing care.

So, if you’re a Cigna member, what does this mean for you? While you can still receive medical services from Spartanburg Regional’s providers until the end of the year, starting from Jan. 1, things could become expensive for Cigna members due to potential higher out-of-network costs. For those with specific health conditions, you might continue receiving services at in-network coverage rates post-Dec. 31.

Going forward, if no agreement is met before Jan. 1, you might need to look for other network alternatives. Don’t panic! If you wish to continue with Spartanburg Regional, you could still apply for continuity of care eligibility. Just get in touch directly with Cigna by calling the phone number on your health insurance cards or by filling out a Transition of Care/Continuity of Care request form on my.cigna.com. Remember, Spartanburg Regional cannot grant these authorisations—it’s all with Cigna. Good news is, don’t worry about emergencies! Spartanburg Regional’s hospitals and affiliated doctors will continue to serve Cigna patients needing emergency treatment, irrespective of their network status with Cigna. Plus, Cigna Medicare contracts will still be in-network.

There’s no doubt that everyone wants a resolution and we’ll keep our fingers crossed that they settle on a deal that caters to everyone involved, especially you—the patient! We’ll make sure to keep you updated on this developing story in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!