Important Notice for Members Regarding Hawai‘i Health Systems Corporation’s Status as a UHA Participating Provider

While the Hawai‘i Health Systems Corporation (HHSC) and its affiliates are currently part of our network of participants, HHSC has officially notified us that it intends to terminate our relationship effective May 5, 2023 if our two parties cannot come to an agreement before then.

If HHSC leaves our provider network, it may impact billing practices and financial obligations of our members after May 4, 2023. We are required by law to inform our members of this possibility.

Though we are still working to come to an agreement, please be aware of the following:

Key Information You Should Know

• Access and services:
  • HHSC facilities that are affected include:
    • East Hawaiʻi: Hilo Medical Center, Hale Hoʻola Hamakua and Kaʻū Hospital
    • West Hawaiʻi: Kona Community Hospital and Kohala Hospital
    • Kauaʻi: Kaua‘i Veterans Memorial Hospital and Samuel Mahelona Memorial Hospital
  • Emergency services must be provided by hospitals and covered under the federal No Surprises Act’s balanced billing protections; this remains unchanged.
  • Coverage for non-emergency health services will continue for UHA members in accordance with their benefit plan to minimize any disruptions to their care.

Our team is here to help you find a participating provider in an effort to manage this situation. Other non-HHSC facilities available to our members include Wilcox Medical Center on Kaua‘i and Queen’s North Hawai‘i Community Hospital. You may view a list of additional alternative facilities at uhahealth.com/hhsc-alternatives.

• Billing and payments: UHA will continue to send direct payments to HHSC. HHSC will review and determine whether there is any additional balance that may be due and billable to the member. This additional balance would be paid by the member directly to HHSC*.

*Non-participating hospitals can bill members directly for any billed amounts that exceed UHA’s eligible charge maximums. Members would be financially responsible for that balance due.

Communications & Transparency

We are pro-actively sharing this information with our UHA subscribers who are known to reside on Hawai‘i Island or Kaua‘i.

As required by law, on April 5^th we directly notified all members who have received regular care at an HHSC facility of its potential non-participating status with UHA as of May 5^th.

Updates are being posted on our website periodically: uhahealth.com/notices.

We are committed to our members and want to minimize any possible disruptions. As a local, physician-founded health insurer, our goal is to consistently provide access to affordable, high-quality patient care for our members and the people of Hawai‘i.

Please share this information with all UHA members in your current household. Should you need further assistance or have questions please contact our Customer Services team at (808) 532-4000 or toll free at 1 (800) 458-4600. Thank you for your understanding and allowing us to serve you.