LCMC Health is actively negotiating with UnitedHealthcare to secure a fair agreement that truly reflects the cost of care and reduces unnecessary delays, denials, and administrative barriers for our patients. However, as the November 1 contract deadline approaches, significant differences on key issues remain unresolved, raising concerns for our patients and the community.
LCMC Health clinicians, if you are willing to speak up on behalf of the patients we serve, please add your name to the letter below. Together, we can make clear to UnitedHealthcare, and to the people of New Orleans that LCMC Health’s physicians are united and unwavering in our commitment to patient care.
UnitedHealthcare Must Stop Standing in the Way of Care
Dear UnitedHealthcare,
Every day at LCMC Health, we show up to fight for the people of New Orleans. As trusted care providers, we treat complex cancers, deliver babies, perform lifesaving transplants, and help families navigate some of the happiest and hardest moments of their lives. We do this work because our patients deserve access to the best care possible, close to home, without delay, and without unnecessary barriers.
We write to you with a simple but urgent request: promptly reach a fair agreement with LCMC Health that prioritizes the patient/provider relationship and recognizes the value this health system brings to our community.
Our patients – your members – deserve access to the care and the coverage they rely on. This market is small. With only one other provider in town, patients could be forced to pay more or travel further for necessary care if LCMC Health is forced out of your network. For many of our patients, that’s simply not feasible.
For months, LCMC Health has been at the negotiating table trying to reach a fair agreement with UnitedHealthcare before the current contract ends on November 1, 2025. Yet despite billions in annual profits and rising premiums for employers and families, UnitedHealthcare refuses to pay fair rates that reflect the real cost and complexity of the care LCMC Health provides. Even worse, providers and patients continue to bear the burden of a systemic process of denials, delays, and administrative hoops that leave patients waiting for treatment their doctors have already deemed necessary.
We see the damage this causes every single day. Patients are forced to postpone treatment, insurers want more paperwork, and families are hit with unexpected bills because coverage was denied. And if LCMC Health is out of UnitedHealthcare’s network, many children in need of specialized care will be forced to travel out of state to continue their treatment. UnitedHealthcare’s decisions don’t just make our jobs harder, they can ultimately impact people’s health.
We didn’t become physicians to argue with insurance companies. We became physicians to treat diseases, prevent suffering, and save lives. Yet too often, UnitedHealthcare stands between us and the people who need our care.
It’s time for that to change.
UnitedHealthcare has the resources, and the responsibility, to do right by the people it serves. That starts with reaching a fair contract with LCMC Health before November 1 that keeps patients connected to their doctors and ensures New Orleans families can continue accessing the care they know and trust at LCMC Health without interruption.
Our message is simple: your members are our patients, and they deserve better. Stop putting up roadblocks. Pay fair rates. Stop underpaying for care you know is essential. And start working with us to build a healthcare system that puts people and their health first.
Respectfully,
The Physicians of LCMC Health
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