• In late June 2025, rumors circulated that the U.S. health insurance company UnitedHealthcare stopped covering care at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the world-renowned cancer care hospital in New York City.
  • Indeed, news releases from both the hospital and the health insurance company revealed that the cancer center reached an impasse in negotiations with UnitedHealthcare after raising its prices. 
  • Care coverage for patients with UnitedHealthcare insurance at Memorial Sloan Kettering had not yet ended at the time of this writing, though it was scheduled to end on July 1, 2025, if the two parties did not reach an agreement before then.

In late June 2025, a rumor circulated that U.S. health insurance company UnitedHealthcare (UHC) had stopped covering treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the world-renowned cancer care hospital in New York City.

For example, a post on X from someone who claimed to be a patient at Memorial Sloan Kettering and to have UnitedHealthcare insurance expressed dismay at the alleged change in coverage, accusing UnitedHealthcare of “disrupting cancer treatment” for 20,000 people (archived):

The post had gained 1.1 million views and more than 25,000 likes as of this writing. Other posts relaying the claims appeared on X and on Facebook, including a meme using the text of the above X post. Further, several Snopes readers searched the site seeking to confirm that UHC was effectively ending cancer care at Memorial Sloan Kettering. 

The rumor spread after months of critical coverage of the insurance company’s profit-driving tactics, which followed the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City in December 2024. Thompson’s death unleashed a flurry of stories about inadequate health care coverage and unexplained claim denials from the insurer. Many began to view Thompson’s alleged killer, Luigi Mangione, as a contemporary folk hero. Snopes has investigated several rumors about Mangione and UnitedHealthcare.

It is true that the hospital and health insurance company appeared to have reached an impasse in negotiations in June 2025 after UnitedHealthcare accused Memorial Sloan Kettering of attempting to raise the prices it charges UnitedHealthcare by 30% to 36%. In response, Memorial Sloan Kettering said UnitedHealthcare had been under-reimbursing care. “Since 2020, UHC’s rate increases to MSK have been less than one-third of the actual cost increases MSK has experienced,” a spokesperson for Memorial Sloan Kettering said in an email. 

News releases from the two organizations dated June 25 and June 26, 2025, said that if they did not find an agreement, UnitedHealthcare would stop covering treatment for UnitedHealthcare-insured patients at Memorial Sloan Kettering starting July 1, 2025.

Both companies asserted they were negotiating in good faith, though the two published competing claims. For example, UnitedHealthcare said the care Memorial Sloan Kettering provided was more expensive than that of comparable hospitals and health care providers in New York City. Memorial Sloan Kettering replied that its innovative care meant patients needed to visit less frequently — and, therefore, their care was effectively cheaper than at comparable hospitals. 

A Memorial Sloan Kettering spokesperson said in an email that the number of patients affected across its system was closer to 19,000. When asked if the hospital was hopeful about reaching an agreement with UnitedHealthcare, Memorial Sloan Kettering shared the following statement from Chief Medical Officer Cardinale Smith:

For people with cancer, there’s nothing more important than being able to see their doctor without interruption. UnitedHealthcare (UHC) is putting the care of 19,000 patients with cancer at risk by refusing to agree to a sustainable agreement with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). We deliver care that helps patients live longer, at lower overall costs, but MSK remains significantly underpaid by UHC – a pattern we’ve seen from UHC in their negotiations with other health systems across the country. We’re doing everything we can to protect our patients, and we urge UHC to prioritize the lives of cancer patients.

We reached out to UnitedHealthcare seeking details on Memorial Sloan Kettering’s assertion that the insurer has been underpaying for health coverage and will update this story if we receive a response.