The state of Connecticut and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal on Monday filed friend-of-the-court briefs siding with medical associations in Fairfield County and Hartford County in their federal case against the nation’s largest health insurer, UnitedHealthcare.
At issue is UnitedHealthcare’s plan to drop thousands of doctors from its Medicare Advantage network starting Feb. 1. The health insurer has not said how many doctors it wants to cut, but the Fairfield County Medical Association has said the number is 2,250: 810 primary care physicians and 1,440 specialists across the state.
“Connecticut patients will immediately face the Hobson’s choice of having to give up their current physicians, thereby risking medical errors arising from lack of continuity of care, or paying much higher rates to retain their current physicians,” Blumenthal wrote in his friend-of-the-court, or amicus, brief, filed in 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York.
Hobson’s choice refers to 17th century livery stable owner Thomas Hobson of Cambridge, England, who gave customers a “choice” of the horse nearest to the stall door or none at all, according to Oxford Dictionaries.
UnitedHealthcare spokesman Terence H. O’Hara replied via e-mail: “The changes we are making to our network will encourage higher quality and more affordable Medicare coverage. Our focus is on supporting our members and helping them access the care they need.”
Also Monday, the state of Connecticut filed an amicus brief in the case via Attorney General George Jepsen and state Healthcare Advocate Victoria Veltri.
“The unlawful and disorderly terminations have threatened wholesale disruption to continuity of care for thousands of Connecticut’s most valuable citizens,” Jepsen and Veltri wrote. “Disruption to continuity of care is highly detrimental, especially for the elderly and those suffering from chronic and debilitating conditions.”
On Dec. 5, a U.S. District judge in Bridgeport issued a preliminary injunction that halted the doctor cuts for members of the two doctors association that took UnitedHealthcare to court. UnitedHealthcare appealed to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and asked for an “emergency” stay of the lower-court order — and an “interim” stay until that request was decided. The appeals court denied the interim stay on Dec. 12 and referred the request for the emergency stay to a three-judge panel.
UnitedHealthcare is a part of UnitedHealth Group of Minnetonka, Minn., which employs about 4,200 people in Connecticut, including those who work at the CityPlace I tower in downtown Hartford.
The health insurer encourages its customers to verify their doctor’s network status by calling the number on the back of their membership card or 1-888-332-8883.
