Thousands of Missourians may have to switch doctors after UnitedHealthcare notified more physicians that they will be removed from the company's Medicare Advantage plan on Sept. 1.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that it is the second round of cuts to UnitedHealthcare's Medicare Advantage physician ranks. UnitedHealthcare is the largest carrier of Medicare Advantage plans for seniors and has about 95,000 plan members in Missouri.
Cardiologist Joseph Craft III, president of the St. Louis Metropolitan Medical Society, says the decision will affect thousands of patients in the St. Louis area alone.
UnitedHealthcare terminated nearly 100 Missouri doctors from the Medicare Advantage plan in April, saying that eventually 5 percent to 7 percent of the more than 10,000 physicians in Missouri would be eliminated this year.
