UnitedHealthcare says 22 Providence hospitals in Oregon and Washington will be out of network for its individual Medicare Advantage plans, its group retiree plans and its chronic special needs plans on January 1, 2027. The insurer’s network notice, updated October 5, announces no agreement for those plans. Medicare’s annual Open Enrollment closes December 7, so members have to pick 2027 coverage before they know whether a deal comes.
Eight Oregon sites and 14 Washington sites on the list
In Oregon, UnitedHealthcare names eight Providence facilities: Hood River Memorial Hospital, Medford Hospital and Medical Center, Milwaukie Hospital, Newberg Medical Center, Portland Medical Center, Seaside Hospital, St. Vincent Medical Center and Willamette Falls Medical Center. The list reaches from Seaside on the coast to Medford in the south.
Washington carries the longer list. It includes Kadlec Regional Medical Center, Centralia Hospital, Holy Family Hospital, Mt. Carmel Hospital, Regional Medical Center Everett, Sacred Heart Medical Center, St. Joseph Hospital, St. Mary Medical Center and St. Peter Hospital. Five Swedish sites round out the 14: Swedish Edmonds, Swedish Health Services, Swedish Medical Center, Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill and Swedish Medical Center Issaquah.
UnitedHealthcare says Providence’s hospitals and providers “will no longer be in UnitedHealthcare’s network” for the affected plans. A member in an individual Medicare Advantage plan, a retiree plan from a former employer or a chronic special needs plan who uses any of these sites should find out now which of their doctors bill through Providence.
The company frames the move around continuity. UnitedHealthcare says its top priority is that people have uninterrupted access to the care they need, and that every network decision is weighed by what is best for members. For the plans on the list, the notice is still a departure notice, with January 1, 2027 as the date and no settlement attached.
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Commercial plans were renewed, and one Washington plan type is still in talks
Not every UnitedHealthcare member is caught. The company says it recently renewed its network relationship with Providence for employer-sponsored commercial plans in Oregon and Washington, so working-age members on those plans keep access.
Washington members in dual special needs plans, known as D-SNPs and built for people who have both Medicare and Medicaid, are also outside the January 1 cut for now. UnitedHealthcare says it remains engaged in good-faith negotiation with Providence on those plans and wants an agreement before January 1, 2027.
Medicare Supplement plans, the Medigap policies sold alongside Original Medicare, are listed as unaffected too. That leaves the exit aimed at the individual plans people buy for themselves and the group plans retirees keep through a former employer.
Treatment already under way and emergencies
For people mid-treatment, UnitedHealthcare describes a continuity-of-care path. Members in active or ongoing treatment for a serious or complex condition with a Providence provider may continue that care at in-network cost for the duration of the treatment. The company’s examples are active cancer treatment and ongoing transplant services.
The notice gives no separate phone number for requests. Members apply through the customer care number printed on their health plan ID card, and UnitedHealthcare decides who is eligible.
Emergencies are treated differently. UnitedHealthcare says members should go to the nearest hospital, and the care is covered at the in-network benefit level even if that hospital is out of network.
Hospitals UnitedHealthcare points members to instead
In Oregon, the insurer lists Oregon Health & Science University, Willamette Valley Medical Center, Adventist Health Portland and Tuality Healthcare as in-network alternatives. Those are far fewer sites than the eight Providence facilities leaving the network.
In Washington, the list names MultiCare Health System, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, UW Medicine, EvergreenHealth Monroe and EvergreenHealth Kirkland. UnitedHealthcare sends members to myuhc.com, myuhcmedicare.com and, for group retiree plans, retiree.uhc.com to confirm that a specific doctor is in network.
A December 7 decision with no deal in hand
Medicare’s Open Enrollment runs from October 15 to December 7, and coverage chosen in that window starts January 1. The network cut is set for the same date. A member who stays in the current plan is betting that Providence and UnitedHealthcare settle before the new year.
Medicare’s free Plan Finder is the official place to compare other 2027 plans in a ZIP code. Whether a rival plan keeps a given Providence hospital or physician group in network is a plan-by-plan answer, and it can differ by county.
A separate Providence change adds to the churn in Oregon. The Daily Tidings reported in August that Providence Health Plan, the health system’s own insurer, is exiting most of its insurance offerings in 2027 and is negotiating to move its Medicare Advantage members to another insurer. The story does not mention UnitedHealthcare and does not name the new insurer.
UnitedHealthcare’s notice announces no new date and no deal for individual and group retiree members. If the two sides settle, the cut does not happen. If they do not, a member who stays put keeps the plan but loses in-network access to 22 hospitals, and the choice has to be made before that is known.
Does your care run through a Providence hospital?
The December 7 deadline arrives before the January 1 network cut, and UnitedHealthcare’s notice announces no deal. A Providence patient who keeps an individual plan and then finds a doctor out of network in January has already missed the window to compare.
The 2027 Medicare Open Enrollment Decision Kit includes a cost calculator spreadsheet that compares plans on cost, drugs and doctors, plus a prescription-by-plan comparison. Part 6, the phone scripts and call log, gives a provider call script for asking each plan whether a named Providence doctor is in network.
Get the Providence doctor call script and plan-cost calculator in the Medicare decision kit →
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
