UnitedHealthcare Reaches Last-Minute Deal with UVM Health Network

The nearly 2,000 Vermonters enrolled in UnitedHealthcare insurance plans can breathe a sigh of relief.

The University of Vermont Health Network announced on Wednesday that it has reached a multiyear agreement to maintain coverage for UnitedHealthcare patients just days before a contract was set to expire.

The deal secures access to UVM Health Network facilities and physicians through March 2026 for patients who are covered by the nation’s largest insurer. The announcement follows two temporary contract extensions.

Vermonters with UnitedHealthcare benefits nearly lost their coverage for care in the network in 2023, when the two sides could not resolve how much the insurer should pay hospitals and doctors for services. UnitedHealthcare blamed the network’s fast-rising prices, while UVM complained that the insurance company was lowballing.

“We are glad to have averted a loss of coverage for our patients who receive their insurance through UnitedHealthcare commercial plans,” Sunny Eappen, president and CEO of the UVM Health Network, said in a statement. “However we are very sorry for the stress and confusion this has caused.”