CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Children’s sent a letter to 1,000 patients warning them that the hospital will soon stop accepting their health insurance as "in-network."
"CareSource notified Cincinnati Children’s that it is terminating its Ohio Marketplace contract with us, effective Aug. 1, 2022," said hospital spokesperson Jennifer Tan. "We were disappointed that CareSource chose to end the contract."
This impacts patients who purchased their coverage from the Ohio Marketplace. CareSource was the only marketplace option contracted with the hospital.
One mother, Erin Lipps, said she realized there were no options when she went online to get insurance after losing her employer-provided coverage.
“This is terrifying,” Lipps said. “I feel like it would be irresponsible for me to not have insurance on my children. Things happen, and you never know what’s going to come down the road, so it’s important for me to be able to get good healthcare for my children."
CareSource and the hospital would not say why the agencies failed to agree during negotiations. CareSource Media Relations Manager Joe Kelley sent WCPO 9News a statement:
“Our members rely on CareSource Marketplace plans for affordable health insurance. In order to maintain that affordability, we work together with providers. We value our relationship with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and while we were hopeful we could come to terms, we were not able to reach a Marketplace agreement. This change only affects Marketplace members and does not change our Medicaid product.
CareSource is currently contracted with other children’s hospitals across the state. We are working to ensure children with critical access needs receive the continuity of care they deserve.”
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