Birmingham-based Children's Hospital of Alabama dropped its contract with Mississippi's Medicaid program March 1, according to Mississippi Today.
The hospital, which services about 300 children on Mississippi's Medicaid program, attributed the decision to delayed reimbursements from two out-of-network insurers managing the state program — Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealthcare and Jackson, Miss.-based Magnolia Health.
Among other things, Children's cited instances of the managed care companies refusing to reimburse the hospital for one patient's services while choosing to reimburse the hospital for similar services it provided to a different patient, Adam Kelley, communications manager for the Children's Hospital of Alabama, told Mississippi Today.
While Children's cut ties with the program March 1, Mississippi's Division of Medicaid was not notified about the change until last week, according to the report. Mr. Kelley said the hospital delayed informing the division because it was working on transferring affected patients to providers in Mississippi.
UnitedHealthcare and Magnolia did not immediately respond to Mississippi Today's request for comment, although UnitedHealthcare said it is drafting a response.