NewYork-Presbyterian hospitals and NYP Medical Group practices will be out of network for most UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage members starting Dec. 1 unless the hospital system and the insurer sign a new agreement first, according to NYP’s own update dated Oct. 29. The two sides have agreed to keep current in-network coverage in place through Nov. 30 while they keep negotiating.
That puts a possible loss of in-network care at New York’s NewYork-Presbyterian hospitals about a week before Medicare’s yearly window to change plans closes. Anyone on a UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plan who uses NYP hospitals or doctors, or expects to this winter, has to decide whether to wait for a deal or move to another plan for 2027.
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Who loses NewYork-Presbyterian on Dec. 1 if talks fail?
NYP says the change reaches “most” UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage members and that some exceptions may apply. UnitedHealthcare’s own update, posted Oct. 30 under the headline “We have extended our network relationship with NewYork-Presbyterian through Nov. 30,” lists Medicare Advantage plans and dual special needs plans among the products the extension covers while the parties work on a new multi-year agreement.
Doctors from ColumbiaDoctors and Weill Cornell Medicine stay in the UnitedHealthcare network, NYP says, but tests, procedures and hospital admissions at an NYP site may not be covered as in-network after Dec. 1. A member can keep a familiar physician and still face out-of-network treatment for the services that physician orders at NYP.
Not everyone with a UnitedHealthcare card is in the same position. NYP’s page says AARP Medicare Supplement policies are not affected. People with an individual policy or a group HMO may have out-of-network benefits that still provide some coverage at NYP, and the page tells anyone unsure of their plan type to call the Member Services number on the back of the insurance card.
How long does care in progress stay in network?
NYP says patients in an active course of treatment before Dec. 1, whether inpatient or outpatient, will generally stay in network through Feb. 28, 2027. Starting March 1, 2027, non-emergency visits at NYP would be out of network unless UnitedHealthcare approves them. That gives people already in treatment a three-month runway.
The page carves out pregnancy separately. Patients who are pregnant stay in network for the length of the pregnancy, including delivery-related postpartum care.
Is there still time to switch before the Dec. 7 deadline?
Medicare’s yearly Open Enrollment runs Oct. 15 through Dec. 7. Medicare.gov says a plan chosen in that window starts Jan. 1 of the next year, and the plan must receive the request by Dec. 7. NYP’s deadline for a deal is Nov. 30, which leaves only about a week between the news of a deal or a break and the last day to choose a different plan for January.
The calendar also runs the other way. A member who stays put and sees NYP leave the network on Dec. 1 would be out of network in December, before any 2027 plan takes effect. Medicare.gov describes a second window, the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period, which runs Jan. 1 to March 31 for people already in a Medicare Advantage plan. It allows a switch to a different Medicare Advantage plan or a return to Original Medicare, with coverage starting the first of the month after the plan gets the request.
Free help is available from Medicare at 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), the number NYP lists for people who want to switch plans. TTY users can call 1-877-486-2048, according to Medicare.gov.
Why does this keep getting pushed back?
The Nov. 30 date is not the first one. NYP’s update says UnitedHealthcare had earlier told members that care at NYP would be out of network starting Nov. 1, and the hospital system and insurer pushed that back a month. Earlier in the year, Becker’s Payer Issues reported on April 28 that an extension announced in March had carried in-network access through April 30, with May 1 as the next break point if talks failed.
UnitedHealthcare’s update says it did not extend its agreement with NYP for Individual Family Plans, and NYP’s main page says care at its hospitals and practices has been out of network for those individual-market members since Jan. 1, 2026. That group is separate from Medicare Advantage, but it shows what happens at NYP when an extension is not offered.
The extension is not limited to Medicare. UnitedHealthcare’s update lists employer-sponsored commercial plans, Medicaid, the Essential Plan and the Empire Plan alongside Medicare Advantage, so the outcome of the talks reaches well beyond Medicare members. UnitedHealthcare describes the extra month as time to finalize a new multi-year agreement, while NYP’s wording is that talks “continue.”
Neither side has said when talks will wrap up, and neither names a negotiator. Both organizations say members with questions should use the number on the health plan ID card. Anyone who gets a notice or call about NYP in the coming weeks, from either side, is best served by checking the plan’s status on its own website or with Medicare, not with the caller.
Is NewYork-Presbyterian the hospital your Medicare Advantage plan has to cover in 2027?
A deal on or before Nov. 30 would keep NYP in network, and no deal would put most UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage members out of network on Dec. 1, with the Dec. 7 window to choose a 2027 plan closing a week after the deadline.
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
David M. Keller is a finance writer based in Columbus, Ohio, covering personal finance and consumer-focused economic topics. He earned his degree in journalism from Ohio University and began his career reporting on local business and economic trends for a regional media outlet. Since then, he has contributed to a variety of online publications, focusing on clear, practical coverage of topics such as cost of living, debt, and everyday financial decision-making.
