Message #2 From:
NewsBot Date: November 3, 2006 11:09:00 AM
HCA News UnitedHealthcare and HCA Reach New, Long-Term, National Agreement
MINNEAPOLIS NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--UnitedHealthcare, a UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) company, and HCA Inc.
(NYSE:HCA), today announced a new long-term nationwide agreement. The
agreement provides United members access to HCA facilities, covers
members into 2011 and recognizes HCA’s and
United’s ongoing commitment to quality and
accessibility.
“Our renewed relationship with HCA will
provide quality, affordable health care for the people we serve,”
said David Wichmann, president and chief operating officer of
UnitedHealthcare. “We arrived at an agreement
that will advance quality, ease administration and maintain
affordability. While the past few months have been challenging for many
of our members, we are pleased that this new contract will offer not
only long-term stability for customers, but also reinforces our
commitment to quality for our members.”
The new contract extends access to over 150 of HCA’s
hospitals and over 100 diagnostic and treatment centers across the
country. It covers UnitedHealthcare and all commercial affiliates –
including Mid-Atlantic Medical Services, PacifiCare, and Neighborhood
Health Partnership – and Medicare business,
including Secure Horizons.Effective immediately, United members
have access to all HCA-owned facilities in Denver, South Florida and
Tampa, including HealthONE imaging centers. The new agreement will also
allow access for UnitedHealthcare members in four new markets by the end
of 2006, including Kansas City, Mo., the Florida Panhandle, Nevada and
Frankfort, Ky.
“HCA offers the country’s
most extensive and diverse network of hospitals, diagnostic and
treatment centers. The patients and employers in the communities we
serve prefer to have access to these facilities,”
said Richard M. Bracken, President and Chief Operating Officer of HCA. “We
are pleased to have reached an agreement with United on terms that allow
us to provide high quality, technologically-advanced and compassionate
care.”
About HCA
HCA Inc. is a holding company whose affiliates own and operate hospitals
and related health care entities. The term "affiliates" includes direct
and indirect subsidiaries of HCA Inc. and partnerships and joint
ventures in which such subsidiaries are partners. At September 30, 2006,
these affiliates owned and operated 172 hospitals, 95 freestanding
surgery centers and facilities which provided extensive outpatient and
ancillary services. Affiliates of HCA Inc. are also partners in joint
ventures that own and operate seven hospitals and nine freestanding
surgery centers which are accounted for using the equity method. The
Company's facilities are located in 21 states, England and Switzerland.
About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare (www.unitedhealthcare.com)
provides a full spectrum of consumer-oriented health benefit plans and
services, helping approximately 25 million individual consumers
nationwide achieve improved health and well-being through various health
service systems. UnitedHealthcare arranges access to quality, affordable
care with more than 500,000 physicians and care professionals and 4,600
hospitals across America. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of
UnitedHealth Group, a diversified Fortune 50 health and
well-being company.
