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Hospital Loses Insurer, Spars With Another

Sarasota Memorial Hospital will no longer be an in-network hospital for patients signed up with the region’s largest Medicaid provider, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

After Dec. 31, StaywellWellcare patients will not be covered at Sarasota Memorial, which currently treats 90 percent of the area’s Medicaid patients who need hospital care.

In related news, the Herald-Tribune reports, a judge on Dec. 1 will consider a dispute between Sarasota Memorial and United Healthcare. Sarasota Memorial has requested an injunction to make sure current policyholders don't lose in-network access to the facility if negotiations continue past the Dec. 31 expiration of a current contract.

According to the Herald-Tribune, both insurance disputes began when Sarasota Memorial cut ties with BayCare, a third party management company that negotiated contracts with insurers, earlier this year.

Originally founded in December 2006 as an independent grassroots publication dedicated to coverage of health issues in Florida, Health News Florida was acquired by WUSF Public Media in September 2012.