Phoenix Children’s

We recognize that the families we serve have put their trust in Phoenix Children’s Hospital to care for their children. That is why we are working hard to renew our relationship.

We have tremendous respect for Phoenix Children’s Hospital (PCH) and the quality care it provides to so many of our members. We also recognize that the families we serve have put their trust in PCH to care for their children and have developed personal relationships with their doctors.

That is why we are actively meeting with PCH to renew our network relationship so that the families we serve have continued access to PCH’s hospital and physicians in Arizona. We want to keep PCH in our network and are committed to engaging in productive negotiation.

If we are unable to reach an agreement, Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Phoenix Children’s Medical Group and Phoenix Children’s Medical Group Urgent Care will be out of network for members with employer-sponsored and individual commercial plans, effective August 1, 2026.

UnitedHealthcare Community Plan in Arizona (Medicaid) members are not impacted by this negotiation and will continue to have network access to PCH through a separate agreement.

PCH is seeking unreasonable rate increases that are not affordable and would increase health care costs for consumers and employers in Arizona.

If we agreed to these unsustainable rate demands, the cost of care at PCH would be significantly higher than the average cost of care at peer children’s hospitals in our network in the west region.

We have a responsibility to provide the people we serve with access to quality health care while also helping to contain rapidly rising health care costs. Agreeing to PCH’s proposal would result directly in financial strain for our employer-group customers and the members we serve.

In addition to unsustainable rate requests, PCH is also demanding unreasonable language in the contract that would significantly drive up the cost of care and would create uncertainty and disruption in access to care for more than 17,000 children.

We have made multiple compromises throughout our negotiation, including offering market-competitive rate increases that will ensure PCH’s hospital and physicians continue to be fairly compensated for the care they provide to our members.

We have a responsibility to provide the people we serve with access to quality health care while also helping to contain rapidly rising health care costs.

We are committed to continued good-faith negotiation. Our top priority is to reach an agreement that is affordable while providing continued, uninterrupted network access to PCH’s hospital and providers.

We urge PCH to work with us to reach an agreement that will ensure the families we serve can continue to afford care at PCH.

Facts you should know

PCH’s current rates are already more than 40% higher than the rates we pay a peer hospital that provides pediatric care in the Phoenix metropolitan area

Maintaining fair and competitive agreements with the doctors and facilities in our network is critical to our ability to meet this commitment to our members and employers.

Our goal is to reach an agreement with PCH that continues to reimburse the health system at market-competitive rates while balancing the need for access to affordable care for Arizona families and employers.

We are proposing rate increases that will continue to reimburse PCH fairly and similarly to its peers while slowing the unsustainable rise in health care costs

We value our network relationship with PCH and have historically provided the health system with market competitive rates, including offering meaningful rate increases during our last negotiation.

We have a responsibility to provide the people we serve with access to quality health care while also helping to contain rapidly rising health care costs.

Maintaining fair and competitive agreements with the doctors and facilities in our network is critical to our ability to meet this commitment to our members and employers.

Our goal is to reach an agreement and avoid disruption in care for our members

We are fully committed to engaging in productive, good-faith discussions with PCH and have made multiple compromises throughout our negotiation.

Our top priority is to reach an agreement and ensure the people we serve have continued uninterrupted network access to affordable health care at the health system.

PCH is putting Arizona’s most vulnerable residents in the middle of this negotiation in an effort to secure the rate increases it’s seeking, potentially creating unnecessary and completely avoidable disruption in access to care for more than 17,000 children.

While we are open and committed to working with PCH, the health system does not appear to be interested in finalizing an agreement.

This behavior is nothing new for PCH, which repeatedly puts its vulnerable patients in the middle of public disputes.

PCH is employing the same playbook tactic that it deployed during our last negotiation in 2023 and with two other large health plans over the past two years:

The pattern is clear, and there is one common denominator – Phoenix Children’s. It is evident by PCH’s past behavior that it is not focused on what’s best for families or businesses in Arizona.

Instead, PCH continues to deploy a playbook that includes demanding unreasonable price hikes and threatening contract terminations while using its pediatric patients as leverage because of PCH’s unwillingness to negotiate fair and responsible contracts.

We will remain at the negotiating table as long as it takes

We hope PCH will join us there and finalize an agreement Arizonans can afford.

We have created the following FAQs to ensure you and your family have the information needed regarding next steps as well as details to help meet your health care needs.

We have tremendous respect for Phoenix Children’s Hospital (PCH) and the quality care it provides to so many of our members. We are actively meeting with PCH to renew our network relationship so that the families we serve have continued access to PCH’s hospital and physicians in Arizona.

We want to keep PCH in our network and are committed to engaging in productive negotiation.

If we are unable to reach an agreement, Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Phoenix Children’s Medical Group and Phoenix Children’s Medical Group Urgent Care will be out of network for members with employer-sponsored and individual commercial plans, effective August 1, 2026.

UnitedHealthcare Community Plan in Arizona (Medicaid) members are not impacted by this negotiation and will continue to have network access to PCH through a separate agreement.

We have made multiple compromises throughout our negotiation, including offering market-competitive rate increases that will ensure PCH’s hospital and physicians continue to be fairly compensated for the care they provide to our members.

We are committed to continued good-faith negotiation and urge PCH to work with us to reach an agreement that will ensure the families we serve can continue to afford care at PCH.

If we are unable to reach an agreement, Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Phoenix Children’s Medical Group, and Phoenix Children’s Medical Group Urgent Care will be out of network for members with employer-sponsored and individual commercial plans, effective August 1, 2026.

UnitedHealthcare Community Plan in Arizona (Medicaid) members are not impacted by this negotiation and will remain in network through a separate agreement.

No. UnitedHealthcare Community Plan in Arizona (Medicaid) members are not impacted by this negotiation and will remain in network through a separate agreement.

We know that many Arizona families have entrusted PCH with their child’s care and that their relationship with their doctor is not only important but also personal to them. We also understand and appreciate how disruptive it can be for our members and their families when a hospital or physician no longer participates in our network. Should PCH leave our network, our priority is to ensure our members have access to the care they need through a robust network of hospitals and physicians.

If we are unable to renew our agreement with PCH, the members we are privileged to serve will continue to have ample access to in-network care from a broad network of nearly 100 hospitals and over 35,000 physicians across Arizona, including:

  • Banner Children's at Desert
  • HonorHealth Scottsdale Shea Medical Center
  • Banner Thunderbird Medical Center
  • Banner University Medical Center Phoenix
  • St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center
  • St. Joseph’s Westgate Medical Center
  • ValleyWise Health
  • Banner Baywood Medical Center
  • Banner Gateway Medical Center
  • Mountain Vista Medical Center
  • Mercy Gilbert Medical Center
  • Arizona General Hospital - Mesa
  • Banner Goldfield Medical Center
  • Tempe St. Luke’s Hospital
  • Chandler Regional Medical Center
  • Banner Ocotillo Medical Center

For support finding in-network hospitals and physicians, members can call the customer care number on their health plan ID card or visit their plan’s website at myuhc.com.

Unfortunately, no. We understand that network changes can be difficult and our priority is to ensure our members have access to the care they need through a robust network of hospitals and physicians.

If we are unable to reach an agreement, Phoenix Children’s Medical Group and physicians will be out of network effective August 1, 2026, for our employer-sponsored and individual commercial plans.

UnitedHealthcare Community Plan in Arizona (Medicaid) members are not impacted by this negotiation and will remain in network through a separate agreement.

If we are unable to reach an agreement, we will match impacted HMO members with a new in-network physician and medical group in your area.

If you are satisfied with your child’s new physician and medical group, you don’t need to do anything and a new member identification card with updated medical group and physician information will be mailed to you.

If you prefer to select your own physician, you can choose a new medical group and PCP from our network at any time. For support finding in-network hospitals and physicians, you can call the customer care number on your health plan ID card or visit your plan’s website at myuhc.com.

If we reach an agreement with PCH and a member has already been matched with or selected a new PCP, members may either continue with their new PCPs, or they may call the phone number on their health plan ID card to reselect a PCH physician.

UnitedHealthcare members who are in the middle of treatment at PCH’s hospital or from a PCH physician may qualify for continuity of care, which provides continued in-network benefits for a specified period of time after a hospital or physician leaves our network.

Our top priority is ensuring children and all the people we serve have access to the quality care they need and deserve. In the event PCH leaves our network, we are committed to collaborating with the health system to help ensure the children and families we serve experience a smooth transition to a new provider, as appropriate.

For children battling chronic medical conditions such as cancer, we will work with PCH to help ensure they have continued access to the care they need at PCH through continuity of care.

Members who have questions about continuity of care should call the number on their health plan ID card.

In the event of an emergency, UnitedHealthcare members should go to the nearest hospital, and their care will be covered at the in-network benefit level, regardless of whether the hospital participates in our network.

For support finding in-network hospitals and physicians, members can call the customer care number on their health plan ID card or visit their plan’s website at myuhc.com.