UHC, Bon Secours reach agreement benefiting about 30k patients

After six months of haggling, Bon Secours and UnitedHealthcare have reached a contract agreement that ensures coverage for nearly 30,000 network patients.

The grim memory of Luigi Mangione, accused of shooting and killing Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, still lingers in the public consciousness.

In the wake of a peaceful resolution, health benefits will not be disrupted.  Beginning July 1, UnitedHealthcare plans, including commercial, Medicare Advantage, Exchange, and Veterans Affairs Community Care Network, will continue without disruption, as the two sides announced an agreement on June 26.

"I'm proud we were able to come together and find a resolution that puts our shared priority — the communities we serve — first," said Matt Caldwell, president of Bon Secours St. Francis in Greenville. "With this agreement, patients can continue to receive the care they need and deserve without any disruption of services."

As of a previous update in May, the two sides remained far apart and were at odds over resolving a dispute regarding reimbursement rates, according to Bon Secours representatives.

A month later, the contract disputes have now been resolved as the new agreement ensures that their hospitals, physicians, urgent care clinics, ambulatory surgery centers, and other care sites remain in network for patients under UnitedHealthcare.

By failing to sign a new contract, UnitedHealthcare members were at risk of seeing increased out-of-pocket costs and more out-of-network visits.

UnitedHealthcare, Prisma Health faced a similar dispute a year ago

After failing to reach an agreement in January 2024, approximately 58,000 South Carolina patients were left out of the network with Prisma Health, the largest healthcare organization in the state and the nation.

At the time, the healthcare companies blamed each other for the dispute, with UHC claiming that Prisma had requested a nearly 20% price hike and that the insurance company had delivered nine proposals.

By the end of July 2024, UnitedHealthcare and Prisma Health had reached a multi-year contract, allowing UHC patients to be back in network with the hospital system.

The agreement was retroactive to June 1, 2024, and UHC patients who saw Prisma physicians in June were billed in-network. Patients who saw Prisma’s doctors before the June date were billed out-of-network.

What did UnitedHealthcare say about the Bon Secours negotiations prior to the June agreement?

On May 20, UnitedHealthcare released a statement stating that Bon Secours was seeking a price hike of nearly 32% over three years, which could have driven up costs by $43 million over the same period.

The figures were based on United Healthcare's commercial plans, which estimated that inpatient surgery costs would increase by $11,000 and emergency room visits by more than $700 per visit if UHC were to agree to the previously reported terms.

"We are in active negotiation with Bon Secours St. Francis in South Carolina," UHC officials wrote in the online statement during contract discussions. "Our top priority is to reach an agreement that is affordable for consumers and employers while ensuring continued network access to the health system."

The negotiations, which began in January 2025, could have impacted all Bon Secours’ providers and facilities in South Carolina if an agreement had not been reached before the July deadline.

Now, more than 30,000 patients in South Carolina are covered with full in-network resources and have experienced no disruption in services.