Annapolis, MD – According to WMAR-2 News, approximately 60,000 patients in Maryland faced significant disruptions when a contract dispute between UnitedHealthcare and Johns Hopkins Medicine forced them to seek new healthcare providers or deal with cumbersome administrative processes last August. In response, Maryland’s leading insurance regulator has introduced new legislation aimed at safeguarding patients from being entangled in similar future conflicts between hospitals and insurers.
The dispute highlighted vulnerabilities in the healthcare system, particularly for individuals managing chronic conditions. Julie Wigley, a WMAR-2 News employee living with multiple sclerosis, exemplified the personal toll of such breakdowns. Wigley, who had relied on her care team at Johns Hopkins since 2010, was compelled to bid farewell to familiar doctors and reschedule appointments after the contract termination. Although she qualified for a three-month continuing care period, the transition proved challenging. She encountered initial denials for treatments under her new providers and spent months coordinating approvals, with resolutions only finalizing in the weeks leading up to the legislative push.
“So my team that I’ve been working with since 2010, I had to say goodbye to and move on and find all new doctors, move appointments,” Wigley recounted. “And originally I got denied at first through this new hospital, new service. We were able to sort it out, but I started making calls probably in September once I realized that this was a permanent decision, and it wasn’t until last week that everything got sorted out.”
These experiences, coupled with inadequate notice and unclear guidance, prompted the Maryland Insurance Administration to propose House Bill 684. Commissioner Marie Grant emphasized that the measure addresses critical gaps exposed by the Johns Hopkins-UnitedHealthcare standoff. “This bill is absolutely, I think, all the tools in the toolbox we wish we had, legally, after the Johns Hopkins-United dispute,” Grant stated.
Key provisions of the bill include mandates for insurers to provide earlier and more transparent notifications to both patients and state officials regarding impending contract expirations. It establishes a 90-day special enrollment period for individuals purchasing insurance independently, although this does not extend to employer-sponsored plans. Additionally, the legislation ensures an automatic 90-day continuity of care in most scenarios, eliminating the need for extra paperwork.
Grant underscored the urgency of these reforms amid evolving national dynamics affecting healthcare funding. “This legislation is important this year because I do think there are national dynamics happening that could come and hurt our market in Maryland,” she explained. “There’s a lot of changes to federal funding for healthcare across the board and so as resources shrink that’s when we start to see parties have these kinds of disputes.”
Efforts to gather updates from the involved parties yielded limited results. Johns Hopkins Medicine reported no new developments, while UnitedHealthcare had not responded at the time of reporting. With negotiations lacking a clear timeline, Commissioner Grant stressed the immediate necessity for enhanced patient protections.
For patients like Wigley, the emotional and logistical burdens extend beyond logistics. “Living with a disease that you trust your providers, you trust the doctors, you trust that friendly nurse that you see at the infusion center that you go into, to then kind of have to uproot that and find a whole new trust,” she reflected. “It’s there, but it’s that process and again a disease that you’re supposed to not be stressed.”
The Senate version of the bill was scheduled for a hearing on March 4, 2026, at 1 p.m., presenting an opportunity for further discussion and potential refinements. As the legislative session progresses, advocates hope these measures will mitigate the fallout from corporate disputes and prioritize patient stability in Maryland’s healthcare landscape.
Maryland, hospital, insurance, patients, legislation, Johns Hopkins, UnitedHealthcare For more information, visit WMAR-2 News.