Lehigh Valley Health Network

Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) issued a notice to end our contract and is demanding a near 30% price hike in one year

We are actively negotiating with LVHN to renew our network relationship. Our goal is to reach an agreement that is affordable for consumers and employers while maintaining continued, uninterrupted network access to the health system.

In the event we are unable to reach an agreement, most LVHN facilities and providers would be out of network beginning on the following dates (see separate FAQs for additional details as some dates vary by the provider location):

  • Medicare Advantage plans, including Individual, Institutional Special Needs Plans (ISNP), Dual Special Needs Plans (DSNP) and Group Retiree: January 26, 2026
  • Employer-sponsored commercial plans: April 26, 2026
  • Veteran Affairs Community Care Network (VACCN): April 26, 2026

A small number of LVHN providers also participate in our Medicaid plans, including the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The dates these facilities would be out of network, including whether they’d be impacted by our negotiation, are outlined in the FAQs. 

This does not impact Medicare Supplement plans. People enrolled in a Medicare Supplement plan can continue to receive care at LVHN, regardless if LVHN chooses to leave our network.

This negotiation only impacts LVHN’s hospitals, facilities and its physicians. Network access to Jefferson Health’s hospitals, facilities and its physicians is not impacted.

Facts you should know

UnitedHealthcare members will continue to have access to a large network of providers should LVHN leave our network

We recently reached a multi-year agreement with St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN). The agreement provides people enrolled in the following plans continued, uninterrupted network access to SLUHN’s hospitals, facilities and its physicians for people enrolled in the following plans:

  • UnitedHealthcare employer-sponsored commercial plans
  • UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans, including Dual Special Needs Plan (D-SNP), Institutional Special Needs Plan (I-SNP) and Group Retiree plans
  • UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Pennsylvania (Medicaid), including Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)

LVHN, which is higher cost than peer health systems in the Lehigh Valley area, provided a proposal in December 2024 with demands for a near 30% price hike in the first year of our commercial contract

LVHN has refused to move off its demands for a near 30% cost increase in one year, which employers and consumers would bear the brunt of. Agreeing to this would drive up premiums, out-of-pocket costs as well as the cost of doing business for local companies.

LVHN’s demands for a near 30% rate increase in the first year of our contract would make it the most expensive in our commercial network in all of eastern Pennsylvania compared to peer health systems

LVHN would be this much higher cost for the following services compared to the average of all other health systems in eastern Pennsylvania if we agreed to its demands for a near 30% rate increase:

  • The average cost of an emergency room visit would be 55% higher at LVHN;
  • A CT scan would be 84% higher at LVHN, while an MRI would be 47% more

LVHN is also seeking significant increases that would make them equal to the highest cost health system in our Medicare Advantage network in Pennsylvania

LVHN’s demands would drive up overall health care costs while also impacting the benefits our Medicare Advantage members rely on.

The majority of the price hike demands LVHN is seeking would come out of the budgets of self-funded employers

The majority of our commercial members in eastern Pennsylvania are enrolled in a self-funded commercial plan. That means UnitedHealthcare is only processing the claims for those employees’ health care. Those bills go directly to the employer. Businesses that opt for a self-funded health plan are assuming the risk of paying for their employees’ health care needs.

LVHN’s demands for a near 30% price hike in the first year of our contract would directly drive up health care costs for self-insured employers. As the prices for health care continue to rise, these employers have less money available to help grow their business through things like investments in new technologies or increase salaries for employees. 

We are proposing numerous compromises and solutions LVHN has sought, while also continuing to reimburse the health system above market-competitive rates

LVHN is presumably leveraging consumers as a negotiating tactic by creating fear and stress during the Medicare Annual Enrollment Period to obtain the significant price hikes it is seeking

Rather than utilizing the past several months to work in good faith toward an agreement, LVHN spent months stalling our negotiation and not providing a counterproposal for more than six months. LVHN then launched a public relations campaign on the same day it issued a notice to end our contract that included false allegations regarding our negotiation. 

We will remain at the negotiating table as long as it takes to reach an agreement that is affordable for consumers and employers

We know the relationship between people and their doctors is deeply personal and important. We are doing everything we can to reach an agreement and we will remain at the negotiating table as long as it takes. However, we need LVHN to work with us toward an agreement that is affordable and sustainable for the people and local companies we serve.

Frequently asked questions for our members