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Lee County residents who have United Healthcare medical insurance — including those who use its Medicare Complete plan — now can seek care at any hospital in the county. The insurance company has agreed to cover procedures at Southwest Florida Regional Medical Center and Gulf Coast Hospitals, which were acquired by Lee Memorial Health System earlier this month. The hospitals’ previous owner, Nashville-based Hospital Corporation of America, had canceled its United Healthcare contract for all HCA hospitals along Florida’s southwest and southeast coasts. “I’m glad it’s covering all of them,” said Nancy Stenbacka, 71, of Bonita Springs, who is under United’s Medicare Complete plan. “I was wondering where I was going to go.” Lehigh Regional Medical Center, owned by Naples-based Health Management Associates, also takes United Healthcare insurance. Lee Memorial had a United Healthcare contract in place for its commercial insurance plans and had an informal agreement to cover Medicare users. An agreement reached on Wednesday formalizes that arrangement. “We are pleased to include Southwest Florida Regional Medical Center and Gulf Coast Hospital in our network,” Lee Memorial spokeswoman Karen Krieger said. United Healthcare spokesman Roger Rollman said he did not have a county-by-county breakdown of United Healthcare enrollees, but said there are about 500,000 people covered in the region stretching from Tampa to Naples. |