Lexington Health to drop major insurer. Here’s what to do if you’re impacted.
For the second time in the last year, one of the largest healthcare providers in the Midlands could drop a major insurance provider if the two companies can’t reach a contract agreement.
The move to nix Cigna Healthcare as an in-network insurance provider for patients of Lexington Health, formerly Lexington Medical Center, comes a little over a year after the hospital group and another insurance company, Aetna, also couldn’t come to an agreement. That move, which the two companies resolved in mid-January this year, threatened to kick patients with Aetna out of network.
Now, Cigna customers are facing the same threat. Lexington Health shared in a Dec. 9 release that beginning Jan. 1, 2026, “Cigna will no longer consider the hospital group or its affiliated physician practices as in-network.”
Besides its 607-bed hospital near Interstate 26 in West Columbia, the hospital group operates more than 80 doctor’s offices throughout the area and is one of the largest employers in Lexington County. All of Lexington Health’s separate practices and specialists across the Midlands are impacted by the lack of a contract.
In a statement to The State, a spokesperson for Cigna blamed the hospital group for the disagreement and took aim at the group’s high costs. The insurance company, which is valued at more than $70 billion, claimed Lexington Health was “choosing to leave our network after demanding double-digit rate increases that would make health care unaffordable for the people we both serve in this community.”
When reached with questions about the disagreement, including questions about how many patients could be impacted and its healthcare costs, a spokesperson for Lexington Health declined to answer questions.
“Lexington Health has been in active discussions with Cigna for several months, working in good faith to reach a fair and sustainable agreement that ensures continued access to care for our patients. Unfortunately, we have not been able to reach an agreement,” the company wrote in a statement on its website.
The assertion from Cigna over the hospital’s high costs is the second time in the last year that a health insurer has raised issue with the company’s prices during contract negotiations. When Aetna and Lexington Health couldn’t agree on a contract in December 2024, Aetna parent company CVS Health told The State in a statement that the company was continuing to work to try to keep Lexington Medical Center facilities and providers within its network, but blamed the health provider for asking for too much in any renewed plan.
“We are continuing to work in good faith to renew our network agreement with Lexington Medical Center,” the insurer said at the time. “However, we remain far apart on terms because of their demand for unreasonable price increases for their services. While we want to reach an agreement that keeps Lexington Medical Center in our network, we cannot agree to terms that would burden our members and local employers with significant cost increases.”
What to do if you’re impacted
Having your insurance provider move out-of-network after you’ve been seeing the same physician for a while, especially if you’re receiving regular care or have a chronic illness, can be daunting.
The first thing to do if you rely on Cigna and Lexington Health is to take a deep breath, said David Anderson, a USC public health professor whose research focuses on the health insurance marketplace.
“This is a negotiating tactic rather than a policy change,” Anderson said, explaining that healthcare providers and insurance companies typically reach agreements, as was the case with Lexington Health and Aetna earlier this year.
If the companies can’t come to an agreement, your options vary based on your health needs and how you get your insurance, Anderson explained. If you receive health insurance through your job and only see a doctor for routine visits like annual check-ups, it’d likely be best to switch over to another healthcare provider network.
For people who have complex care needs, like those receiving medical care regularly for things like chronic illnesses, healthcare providers accept continuity of care waivers, which allow patients a buffer of typically 1-3 months to find new insurance or new care, Anderson said.
“For folks who are low utilizers, they see the doctor once or twice a year at most, that transition isn’t difficult because there’s just no relationship to maintain. For individuals who are medically complex, that transition is really expensive and really challenging,” Anderson told The State.
If you don’t get your health insurance through work, but through the Affordable Care Act, you can shop around for a new insurance provider and enroll by Jan. 15.
For patients with Cigna who have an appointment scheduled for after Jan. 1, Lexington Health said in its release it would be reaching out with next steps.
This story was originally published December 22, 2025 at 3:12 PM.
