WakeMed, UnitedHealthcare agreement brings hospital system back in network for thousands

After nearly six months without a contract, UnitedHealthcare and WakeMed struck a deal that brings the hospital system back in-network for the insurers thousands of patients.

From June 1 through Nov. 14, services and procedures performed by WakeMed hospitals, outpatient clinics and specialists were charged at out-of-network prices for subscribers to some 20,000 UnitedHealthcare subscribers.

The dispute left those with existing doctor-patient relationships and on-going treatments scrambling or shelling out more.

UnitedHealthcare described the new agreement as a "multi-year relationship," but did not include details of the length of the contract or any new costs to subscribers.