Aetna sent us a letter saying our hospital no longer takes Aetna

callmecrazy1

So I am freaking out! My doctor (who has been through EVERYTHING) with me only delivers at our hospital (as well as any emergency work). Aetna sent me a letter saying that this group of hospitals no longer will be contracted with Aetna because they could not reach an agreement. Hmm. At the very end of the letter it does say they will "continue to work on reaching a resolution with Aetna" but I am still freaking out. The next nearest hospital is 40 minutes away, and my doctor won't go there. Simple solution is to change doc's yes, but you don't understand what I have been through with this doctor. I couldn't imagine having another doctor.

I also heard that if you are already pregnant, new OB's won't take you? do any of you know if this is correct? If so, I need to change before I am farther along, right? Anyone else go through this??

I asked my doc about the letter and he told me to ignore it, that Aetna is just trying to raise helll in order to get what they want. Sounds crazy to me. 

andrea922

This happens often with hospitals and insurance. I am sure they will get it worked out in the next 8 months.

And people switch OBs all the time when pregnant, that isn't a problem.

callmecrazy1

I had a friend who supposedly tried to change doc's when she was in her 2nd trimester and they wouldn't take her. Maybe it was just that doc..

 

 

iris427

Of course you can switch to a new OB if you are already pregnant.

I don't know a lot about insurance.  I'm not sure ignoring it is the best thing to do--what happens if you deliver at that hospital and then Aetna won't cover your bill?  You might want to call Aetna and talk to someone.

ETA hopefully they will get it worked out soon and you won't have to switch or worry about this 

krislee17

I work in the health insurance industry and I can tell you that 95% of the time, the insurance carrier and the hospital work out an agreement very soon after that letter is mailed out.  The insurance carriers are required to mail out those letters if the contract is within "X" amount of days from its' expiration.  I know that I would be freaking out if I was in your position but I have a feeling that they will get the contract worked out long before you're due to deliver.

callmecrazy1

Awesome. Thanks for the feedback!

ams8099

Something similar happened to me. The major hospital in the area and our insurance (Anthem BCBS) couldn't reach an agreement. This would have been a HUGE issue as all of our healthcare providers were out of that hospital. 

It took them a while, but they reached an agreement. I'm betting in a few days you will get a letter that states that you can still see your providers until X date.

You are early enough in your pregnancy where it wouldn't make a difference if you did switch providers. I have heard that OBs won't take you as a new patient if you are later in your pregnancy, but even so, that isn't the case for all OBs.

kelklump

This happens in Cincinnati all the time. I would just wait it out a little longer and see if they come to a resolve. We hear of this on a regular basis with all of our hospitals but they usually always come to a resolve in the next few months. Since you arent close to delivering, then you are probably safe.

 

PinkGrapefuit

You are like 4 seconds pregnant, it's not too late to change. They'll probably come to an agreement anyway, I wouldn't worry about it just yet.