Entering New Markets: Strategies for Entering the East African Healthcare Market  World Health Expo
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UnitedHealthcare employs local police to beef up security at HQ  Newsweek
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by R. Anthony Harris | May 22, 2025 | EDITORIAL, POLITICS
While Richmond slept, House Republicans passed what Donald Trump is proudly calling “the big beautiful bill”—a sweeping package that slashes health care access for millions of Americans while delivering generous tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy. For Richmonders who rely on Medicaid, SNAP, Planned Parenthood, or the ACA marketplace, this bill isn’t just bad—it’s brutal.
At the center of the bill: permanent tax cuts for the rich, new deductions for things like tips and overtime pay, and expanded loopholes for high earners. But behind that shiny surface is a gutting of the social safety net that supports millions—including thousands right here in Central Virginia.
The bill proposes nearly $700 billion in cuts to Medicaid over 10 years, along with new work requirements for adults aged 19 to 65. That’s roughly 80 hours of documented work, education, or community service a month—or you lose coverage. In Virginia, those requirements could hit up to 480,000 people, with as many as 206,000 potentially losing health coverage by the end of the decade.
Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan (D-Richmond) has raised concerns that cutting Medicaid will shift costs elsewhere in the system. “When you kick people off of their health insurance, that raises the cost for everybody else,” she said in a recent press briefing. In a follow-up statement, she noted that, “As more Virginians delay care until they end up in emergency rooms, costs will rise for everyone.”
The bill also fails to renew enhanced ACA premium subsidies, meaning many families who gained affordable insurance in recent years may soon be priced out again. For Richmond residents who rely on these programs for basic care, the stakes are high.
In a chilling last-minute amendment, House Republicans rewrote the bill to ban all federal Medicaid and ACA coverage for gender-affirming care—regardless of age. That means transgender individuals, whether 17 or 70, would be legally blocked from accessing transition-related services through public insurance programs.
“This cruel addition shows their priorities have never been about lowering costs or expanding health care access—but in targeting people simply for who they are,” said Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign.
These changes would have a profound effect on Richmond’s transgender community, which already faces limited access to gender-affirming care and high levels of health-related discrimination.
The bill also strips all federal funding from Planned Parenthood, preventing patients from using Medicaid at its health centers. That’s a direct threat to the 25,000 Virginians who relied on those clinics last year for birth control, STI treatment, cancer screenings, and basic preventive care.
“This isn’t about Planned Parenthood,” said Jamie Lockhart, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia. “It’s about whether tens of thousands of Virginians can keep getting the care they count on.”
In 2023 alone, Planned Parenthood centers in Virginia:
For many, these clinics are their only doctor’s office.
The bill also expands work requirements for SNAP (food stamps), applying them to adults up to age 64 and many parents. In a city like Richmond, where food insecurity remains a persistent issue, those changes could leave thousands without critical support.
LGBTQ+ adults, caregivers, people with disabilities, and those without stable housing are especially vulnerable under the new rules. Nationally, 27% of LGBTQ+ adults report struggling to afford food. Those numbers are only expected to climb if the bill becomes law.
So who’s this bill really for?
It makes the 2017 Trump tax cuts permanent, increases the child tax credit (temporarily), and raises the cap on state and local tax deductions to $40,000 for households earning under $500,000. Those are policies aimed squarely at higher-income earners—folks unlikely to be using Medicaid or SNAP anytime soon.
Even the tip and overtime exemptions, while easy to market, don’t come close to offsetting the loss of basic health coverage, food assistance, and reproductive care for most working families.
“This is a scam that robs everyday Americans of their health care and financial stability,” said Leslie Dach of Protect Our Care. “When children with disabilities are stripped of the support they need, the American people will know Republicans chose billionaires over them.”
This bill isn’t abstract policy for Richmond. It’s direct harm.
If it passes the Senate, we’re looking at:
Richmond has been through a lot. We’ve rebuilt and reimagined what access can look like. But this bill threatens to undo years of progress in one fell swoop. So when Trump calls this “beautiful,” remember—he’s not talking about you. He’s talking about the folks cashing in while the rest of us scramble for care.
Photo by Nathan Bingle
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What will healthcare in 2050 look like?  World Health Expo
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HARTFORD, Conn. (WFSB) – Thousands of people in Connecticut may have to change doctors next month if they don’t want to pay out-of-network prices.
UnitedHealthcare’s contract with Hartford Healthcare is set to expire at midnight on March 31st. This would impact dozens of Hartford Healthcare facilities across Connecticut.
Mary Cotter in Mystic is just one example of someone this would affect. She’s been seeing the same primary care doctor for 30 years, but he will become out of network if the contract expires.
“It’s not easy to start up with a new doctor, a new provider and to establish that relationship, that trust,” said Cotter. “Some of us are under a lot of stress just dealing with our health conditions, and we don’t need to worry about our insurance yanking our providers out from under us.”
Both UnitedHealthcare and Hartford Healthcare have set up web pages to explain their side of the contract battle.
Hartford Healthcare argues UnitedHealthcare is offering rates that do not cover their costs and will impact their ability to recruit staff.
UnitedHealthcare claims Hartford Healthcare is seeking a 20% price hike that would drive up healthcare costs.
The dispute has cotter feeling stuck in the middle.
“We are pawns. There’s no question about it. We don’t have any control. We don’t have a voice in the matter,” said Cotter.
If this all sounds familiar, last summer the I-Team covered the contract negotiations between Trinity Health and UnitedHealthcare.
Trinity and UnitedHealth went about 7 weeks without a contract causing confusion and stress among patients.
Cotter believes this type of contract situation shouldn’t become the norm.
“They shouldn’t put the patients through this. They shouldn’t bring us to a point of adding this extra burden of worry and stress to what we’re already dealing with,” said Cotter.
The I-Team asked both Hartford Healthcare and UnitedHealthcare for the latest on contract negotiations.
A spokesperson from Hartford Healthcare provided the below statement:
“We are very aware of the impact negotiations have on the communities and patients we serve. We are working diligently to resolve remaining issues to ensure a mutually agreeable contract and believe we can reach a resolution soon. You can find additional information on our website at https://hartfordhealthcare.org/united.”
For now, nothing has changed and United members can continue to receive care at Hartford HealthCare at in-network rates and benefit levels.”
A UnitedHealthcare spokesperson provided the below statement:
“HHC continues to seek price hikes for our commercial plans that are approximately double the health care cost benchmark established by the state. HHC is also proposing to be reimbursed significantly more than any health system in our Medicare Advantage network in Connecticut. Altogether, HHC’s proposal would increase health care costs by nearly $200 million for consumers and employers. It remains our top priority to reach an agreement but we need HHC to approach the negotiation with a realistic proposal Connecticut families can afford.”
If the contract expires, not all patients will immediately become out of network on April 1st. There are some exceptions for certain policies, and people in the middle of treatment can also apply for something called continuity of care. Patients should call the number on the back of their insurance cards to get answers about their specific situations.
Copyright 2025 WFSB. All rights reserved.

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OREGON, USA — Oregon Health & Science University and UnitedHealthcare have reached a “good-faith agreement” on a new contract, according to a statement from the hospital system on Friday. About 74,000 people in Oregon will be looking for a new doctor at the end of March if the two sides do not finalize the deal.
Health care providers like OHSU have contracts with insurance providers, agreeing to reimbursement rates that the insurance company will pay for medical services. But United’s contract with OHSU ends on March 31, and if they don’t negotiate a new one by April 1, OHSU’s doctors will be “out of network” for patients with United insurance.
That means United patients can still go to an OHSU doctor, but it will cost them significantly more, and OHSU says patients might not even be able to stay in the hospital. If patients remain on March 31, OHSU said on its website that it will make sure they are stable, but on April 1, patients may be asked to leave and find a hospital that’s still in United’s network.
All United patients will need to find a new doctor within United’s network — but an appointment, particularly with a specialist, is likely months away.
OHSU said that patients can ask United for “continuity of care” service by April 30, but it is up to United whether they approve it.
In a statement banner posted on OHSU’s site Friday evening, the hospital system signaled that they may be close to a deal:
“We are pleased to share that OHSU, Adventist Health Portland and Hillsboro Medical Center have each reached a good-faith agreement with UnitedHealthcare and and are working to finalize contracts before the expiration deadline.”
Both United and OHSU declined interviews with KGW.
OHSU has said that “operational and financial issues” with United are disrupting care. OHSU added that United denies more than 56% of claims compared to an industry standard of 5% to 10%, and that it takes an average of 307 days — almost an entire year — to resolve claims.
United has not responded to those claims, but they have said they are contending with “unreasonable price hikes” under OHSU’s proposed contract, claiming that if they agree to what OHSU wants, a C-section would cost $9,000 more than it does today; outpatient surgery would cost $3,000 more; and an ER visit would cost $1,100 more.
OHSU responded to an email from KGW regarding the claims, saying they haven’t reviewed the cost claims and can’t verify how United calculated those figures.
Meanwhile, both sides say they’re still at the negotiating table, so it’s possible they could reach a deal before April 1.
Becky Hultberg, president and CEO of the Hospital Association of Oregon said in part:
“We have seen increased friction between insurers and providers since the pandemic. It really comes down to basic math. Hospitals aren’t being paid enough to cover the cost of caring for patients.”
“Over the past few years, some insurers have pocketed record profits, at a time when about half of Oregon’s community hospitals have been consistently operating in the red. This is a serious issue that all Oregonians should care about because no organization — or household, for that matter — can operate indefinitely in the red,” said Hultberg.
RELATED: Recent strikes put Portland at the forefront of a national wave of labor action

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