Listen to the article
Mass General Brigham Health Plan has announced that it’s eliminating the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute from its Medicare Advantage network Oct. 1.
The insurer said it’s dropping coverage “due to the challenging environment affecting Medicare Advantage plans nationwide.” The change won’t affect commercial products, and the cancer institute will still be a part of the Mass General Brigham Health Plan commercial provider network.
It’s the latest split between Mass General Brigham and Dana-Farber, after the two announced they would end their decades-long cancer partnership.
The news comes as MA disputes between hospitals and insurers increase. Contract negotiations have become increasingly contentious, with more disputes spilling into the public arena.
Providers are demanding higher reimbursements from insurers to address rising costs, and insurers have been reluctant to foot the bill as their own costs increase.
In Boston, the contract termination comes as MGB winds down its long-term partnership with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
The cancer institute, which sits across the street from Brigham and Women’s hospital and is connected by a pedestrian bridge, announced in 2023 that it would end its partnership with MGB in 2028 and build a cancer hospital with competitor Beth Israel Lahey Health. MGB then said it would spend $400 million to renovate its own cancer care facilities ahead of the breakup.
MGB did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
