Did your plan's network change on July 1?

A network split announced months ago stops being a headline and starts being a bill on its effective date, and July 1 was a big one. In Florida, Moffitt Cancer Center, the state's only National Cancer Institute designated comprehensive cancer center, is now out of network for Humana Medicare Advantage PPO and HMO plans, per the patient notice on Moffitt's own site. Trade reporting lists other systems whose splits with UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage also took effect July 1, including Brown University Health in Rhode Island and Main Line Health in Pennsylvania. If one of these is your hospital, or if your own plan and hospital part ways later this year, a few rules of the road apply. First, continuity of care: patients in an active course of treatment can often keep seeing their team for a transition period, and Humana has said it may extend continuity of care for affected Moffitt patients on a case by case basis. Ask your plan for this by name. Second, plan type matters: PPO members usually keep some out of network coverage at a higher cost, while HMO members generally lose routine coverage at the departed hospital except in emergencies. Third, Original Medicare and Medicare Supplement coverage are not affected by these disputes, because Original Medicare has no network. Fourth, in limited situations Medicare treats a significant mid year network change as grounds for a special enrollment period; whether one applies is decided case by case, so ask your plan or call 1-800-MEDICARE. The move that covers every situation: call the number on your card, confirm your doctors and facilities are still in network, and if you are in treatment, ask specifically about continuity of care.