UCI to Stop Accepting PacifiCare Plans

Bucking the low-paying managed-care system, UC Irvine Medical Center said it will drop PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. medical plans because the fees are so low and the hospital is losing more than $1 million a year. The termination, which came after six months of negotiations, will affect about 4,000 patients, who now must seek other medical plans that the hospital accepts or other doctors still accepting PacifiCare members. UCI Medical said it lost nearly $1.1 million treating 3,249 patients during the fiscal year that ended June 30. It lost more than $1.4 million treating 3,789 patients in the first nine months this year, said Susan Rayburn, a hospital spokeswoman. PacifiCare spokeswoman Cheryl Brady said the Santa Ana-based insurer is “disheartened” by UCI’s decision to terminate the seven-year relationship. She said PacifiCare had offered to increase its payments by 10%.