DEWITT, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — Thousands of Central New Yorkers may soon have to find new doctors. CNY Family Care on Brittonfield Parkway said it will stop accepting United Healthcare commercial and United Medical Resources, better known as UMR, insurance plans starting next year.
CNY Family Care sent out a letter to patients with United Healthcare and UMR insurance plans notifying them that, as of January 1, 2026, the practice will no longer accept those plans.
“I’m nine months pregnant, three weeks away from my due date, and I was like, oh no, what are we going to do,” said Samantha Pericho of Central Square.
The mom of three, with another one on the way, said she’s been a patient at CNY Family Care her entire life and was shocked to learn the news.
“We actually just got a letter in the mail that stated that they were no longer accepting it,” said Pericho.
In the letter, the practice said it’s “with great sadness” that it made the decision, after what it called numerous discussions and meetings with UnitedHealthcare that failed to resolve major differences over reimbursement policies.
“I don’t necessarily think this is a CNY Family Care issue. I think this might be a trend we saw coming forward because health insurance is definitely a tricky business right now. I mean for starters, we going to be a family of six, and we have two separate insurance plans in our home because financially that’s just what makes sense, monthly going out,” said Pericho.
Pericho said thankfully she was able to get into another provider, but not until July.
“I called CNY to confirm if I could just continue treatment from January until July if anything were to come up in those seven months, and unfortunately, I am not able to. I wasn’t even able to pay out of pocket,” said Pericho.
CNY Family Care said patients who want to stay with their doctors must switch to another plan that’s still in-network. Those who don’t will need to find care elsewhere by the start of next year.
The practice said its billing staff is available to help patients navigate this transition. Give them a call at 315-463-1600 option 5.
NewsChannel 9 reached out to United Healthcare and is still waiting to hear back.
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