Fidelis can’t turn access to care into a bargaining chip

By Kevin Beiner

In New York, more than 240,000 of our most vulnerable patients face a looming healthcare crisis. Their access to trusted doctors, vital treatments, and life-saving care at Northwell Health is being jeopardized by Fidelis Care, a for-profit insurer. This isn't just a contract dispute; it's a fundamental test of whether Fidelis will prioritize the well-being of patients or the bottom line of shareholders.

Fidelis Care, owned by the Fortune 500 giant Centene Corporation, issued a notice of termination and the cooling off period is set to expire on July 15^th. This termination severs its ties with Northwell Health and should this happen, it wouldn't just mean a change in paperwork; it would push Medicaid recipients, seniors on Medicare Advantage, and low-income families into a state of anxiety and uncertainty. These are individuals who depend on Northwell not just for routine check-ups, but for complex cancer treatments, maternal health services, and mental health support. For them, undisrupted care is not a luxury; it is a necessity that can mean the difference between health and hardship.

Our patients who depend on Fidelis include a child with a complicated congenital profile, a cancer patient undergoing state-of-the-art treatment including chemotherapy that is individually matched to fight his tumor, and teenagers receiving life-changing gene therapy. These are real people depending on an insurer to deliver what they promised – covering their care.

To accept proposed terms from Fidelis would force Northwell to make difficult choices. It would mean fewer nurses at the bedside, reductions in critical community programs, and cuts to essential services in areas like cancer treatment, cardiac care, and mental health. These are the very specialties that the communities we serve need most, and it would be a betrayal of our not-for-profit mission to allow a for-profit insurer to dictate terms that hollow out the care that New York's most vulnerable depend on.

Compounding this challenge, Fidelis already has a pattern of excessive claim denials – an astounding 38 percent - and owes Northwell over $100 million in unpaid claims for care already provided. This is not a partner negotiating in good faith; it is a corporation prioritizing profit over patient well-being.

Northwell did not walk away from this agreement; Fidelis did. Our commitment to our patients remains unwavering. We are providing continuity-of-care protections for patients undergoing an ongoing course of treatment, patient navigation support to help individuals understand their options, and financial counseling for anyone concerned about costs. No patient who needs emergency care will be turned away from our emergency departments.

It should also be noted that Fidelis’ parent company, Centene, reports billions of dollars in annual revenue, designed to generate returns for Wall Street. When Fidelis demands rates that fall demonstrably below the actual cost of delivering care—it is not fighting for affordability for patients. It is fighting to transfer wealth from patient care and community health initiatives directly into its corporate coffers.

Kevin Beiner is Chief Operating Officer at Northwell Health.