DeLauro and Blumenthal Statement on United Healthcare Group Threatening to Drop Providers in Connecticut

WASHINGTON, DC (March 22, 2017) — U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) and U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) today released the following statement regarding news that United Healthcare Group is sending notices to enrollees that they intend to drop providers in the State of Connecticut in order to pressure doctors during their contract negotiations.

"United Healthcare Group is going to a new low by threatening to drop providers in Connecticut and using the health care of seniors as a bargaining chip in their negotiations. Not only are we mid-way through the plan year when seniors should not be forced to pick a new doctor, many of them have gone to the same doctor for years, if not decades.

"These seniors signed up for coverage during the enrollment period expecting that their providers would remain in-network through the duration of the plan year. Sending letters to seniors with threats of dropping their providers should not be a way to negotiate payment policies. United Healthcare needs to stop playing games and immediately stop these mid-year provider terminations. The health our seniors must come before their profits."