UPDATED December 29, 2025
For nearly 50 years, Chesapeake Regional Healthcare has delivered trusted, high-quality care right here at home. We are pleased to share that Chesapeake Regional Healthcare has reached a new agreement with Cigna and will remain in-network. This agreement reflects our commitment to working with all payors/insurance companies to ensure contracts fairly support the true cost of providing care in our community.
This means you can continue receiving the trusted, high-quality care you know and deserve from your Chesapeake Regional Healthcare providers without interruption. Thank you for your support.
To learn more about the importance of fair contracts with insurance providers and Chesapeake Regional, see below.
FAQS
Q: Why does Chesapeake Regional Healthcare and insurance companies negotiate contracts?
A: Our contract outlines how we work together and how the insurance companies reimburse our providers for their members’ care.
Like hospitals across the country, Chesapeake Regional Healthcare is facing steeply rising costs for staff, supplies, and services. Yet insurance companies continue to pay as much as 30 percent less than what it pays other health systems in Hampton Roads for the same patient care. We are not a large national system. We are your community hospital. This is not sustainable. Meanwhile, insurance companies’ profit continue to grow - some in to the Billions. In many cases, insurance companies offer hospitals, like Chesapeake Regional Healthcare, minimal increases that do not cover the rising cost of care.
Like many hospitals around the U.S. in the same challenging circumstances, we have to hold and all insurance companies accountable to pay fair, market-based rates. Fair payment from insurance companies is critical to maintain access to vital services patients need, like cancer care, neurology, and high-quality maternity and emergency care.
Advocating for fair payment is advocating for your health and our community’s best interest. In this negotiation, our only goal is to keep care local, sustain vital health care services, preserve competition, and ensure that families do not have to travel farther or pay more for the care they need.
Q: What's the purpose of a contract between a hospital system and an insurance company?
A: When a hospital system works with an insurance company, they become part of the insurance company’s “network.” Both parties sign a contract and agree to a set of rules that regulate how the organizations will work together. The contract includes things like the amount the insurance company will pay the health system for different services and medical procedures.
After caring for a patient, the hospital/physician bills each patient’s insurance company for services, and the insurance company decides whether to cover (pay for) those health care services. The insurance company then pays the hospital or physician based on the agreed-upon rates in the contract. The amount an insurance company pays a hospital or physician for patient care services is called a payment rate, or a reimbursement rate.
If the insurance company does not approve the patient’s health care services, the insurance company will deny the payment and state the patient should have received pre-authorization (or some other reason for denying the payment). The rules and policies outlined in the contract can have a significant impact on when, how, and if patients with those insurance plans are able to receive timely care and coverage.
There are many other details and regulations in a contract between a hospital/physician and insurance company. Reimbursement rates, denials, pre-authorizations and related policies are the most negotiated terms.
Q: What can I do to help make sure my insurance company agrees to a contract and Chesapeake Regional Healthcare stays in my insurance network?
A: Call or email your insurance company. Let them know how important it is for you to maintain in-network access to your community hospital. Call the number on the back of your insurance card.
If you receive insurance through your employer, contact your Human Resources or leadership team. Let them know you deserve and expect a benefits plan that includes reliable in-network access to high-quality, local care at Chesapeake Regional Healthcare.
Q: Why is it important to have Chesapeake Regional Healthcare in my insurance network?
A: For nearly 50 years, Chesapeake Regional Healthcare has proudly served this community as an independent, not-for-profit health system. With over 50 care locations and 600 dedicated providers, we’re here for you, offering nationally recognized quality and the compassionate, personal care that only a community hospital can provide. We deliver more than 3,000 babies each year, lead the region in heart attack survival, and provide advanced care in cancer, neurology, and emergency medicine. As your community hospital, we listen. We take time to understand what families in our community need to make sure you have the services that matter most today, and tomorrow.
Q: Who can I contact with questions?
A: We encourage you to call your insurance company at the number on the back of your insurance card. They can help you understand what the impact will be on you and your family based on your specific benefits plan if Chesapeake Regional Healthcare is forced out of network.