Ascension St. Vincent in Indiana
Our goal is to renew our network relationship with Ascension St. Vincent in Indiana while providing people access to affordable care
We are actively negotiating with Ascension St. Vincent in Indiana to renew our network relationship. We want people to have continued access to Ascension St. Vincent. However, we also have a responsibility to ensure that access is affordable.
Health care costs are directly affected by the reimbursement we negotiate with health systems in our network. One of the leading drivers of rising health care costs are the prices hospitals charge, such as Ascension St. Vincent.
Our goal during this negotiation is to reach a solution that reimburses Ascension St. Vincent at rates similar to its peers throughout the market, while not placing a burden on hard-working families and employers already struggling during challenging economic times.
For now, nothing changes. The people we serve continue to have network access to Ascension St. Vincent’s hospitals, facilities and its physicians through July 31, 2026. However, if we are unable to reach an agreement, the majority of Ascension St. Vincent’s hospitals, facilities and its physicians will be out of network for people enrolled in the following UnitedHealthcare plans, beginning Aug. 1:
- Employer-sponsored commercial plans
- Medicare Advantage plans, including Dual Special Needs Plan (DSNP) and Group Retiree plans
- Medicaid
Ascension St. Vincent southwest providers, including Ascension St. Vincent Evansville and Ascension St. Vincent Warrick hospitals, are not impacted and will remain in our network, regardless of the outcome of our negotiation.
As we continue our discussions, we want to share some key facts about our negotiation, as well as important information regarding next steps should Ascension St. Vincent choose to leave our network.
Ascension St. Vincent is the most expensive health system in the Indianapolis market and is seeking additional price hikes that would increase health care costs for people and employers.
Ascension St. Vincent’s hospitals are significantly higher cost compared to the average cost of the other three large health systems in our commercial network throughout Indianapolis. Rather than working with us to make health care more affordable for the families and companies who do business here, Ascension St. Vincent is demanding significant price hikes that would increase what people pay for health care.
To help illustrate the high cost of care at Ascension St. Vincent’s hospitals, consider the following examples, which show how much higher these services are at its hospitals compared to the average cost of the other three large health systems in our commercial network in the Indianapolis market:
The high cost of care at Ascension St. Vincent applies to more than just its hospitals. The health system’s ambulatory surgical centers are over 80% higher than the state average.
Ascension St. Vincent’s ASCs are over 80% higher than the average cost of all other ASCs in our commercial network throughout Indiana. A common service such as a colonoscopy costs approximately $2,600 more at Ascension St. Vincent’s ASCs compared to the average cost of all other ASCs throughout Indiana, while a knee arthroplasty at an Ascension St. Vincent ASC is $22,000 more on average.
If Ascension St. Vincent’s hospitals charged similar prices to peer health systems in Indianapolis, it would have resulted in significant cost savings for consumers and employers.
If Ascension had been reimbursed at the average rate of the other three prominent health systems in our commercial network in the Indianapolis market, it would have resulted in nearly $40 million in reduced health care costs for Indiana families and employers since just 2023.
While other health systems throughout Indiana have worked with us to make health care more affordable, Ascension St. Vincent is doing the opposite.
Indiana lawmakers have taken steps to address the high cost of health care in the state, including introducing bills in recent years that would reduce what health systems charge and bring prices down to sustainable benchmarks. Many of the state’s health systems have collaborated with us in recent years to make health care more affordable and align with the state’s cost benchmarks.
Ascension St. Vincent is doing the opposite. The health system’s hospitals are reimbursed well above 300% of Medicare for commercial plans, far exceeding all of the health care cost benchmarks the state has established. Despite this, Ascension St. Vincent is seeking additional price hikes that further add to the affordability challenges people and companies in Indiana are facing.
Self-insured employers throughout Indiana are bearing the brunt of Ascension St. Vincent’s high costs, and it’s not sustainable for them and their employees.
Nearly 90% of the people we serve throughout Indiana are enrolled in employer-sponsored commercial plans that are self-funded. That means the actual cost of health care services is directly paid by these employers, their employees, and their families, while we manage the administrative tasks on their behalf.
When hospitals demand steep price hikes, employers must make difficult decisions about benefits and costs. When provider costs rise, these employers bear the financial risk and often have no other choice than to pass those costs along to employees, resulting in higher deductibles, out-of-pocket expenses, and employee contributions.
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.