Payer Contracting Manager

Beacon Behavioral Partners; United States; On-site; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Beacon Behavioral Health seeks an experienced Payer Contracting Sr Manager to grow reimbursement for existing service lines. This leader will negotiate increases across commercial, Medicare Advantage, and Medicaid plans and manage a calendar of renegotiations.

The role requires strong analytics, payer relationships, and the ability to sequence negotiations for efficient outcomes. It reports to RCM leadership and collaborates across IT, Credentialing, and Legal to implement updated rates.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of payer contracting or managed care experience negotiating provider reimbursement.
• Proven history of negotiating and executing rate increases with measurable revenue results.
• Established relationships with payer network management contacts; experience in Beacon's geographic markets is helpful.

Responsibilities

• Lead rate renegotiations with commercial, Medicare Advantage, and Medicaid managed care plans from proposal to executed agreement.
• Build and maintain an annual renegotiation calendar for all practices, prioritizing by revenue opportunity and renewal dates.
• Analyze payer mix, utilization, and reimbursement data to identify opportunities and craft data-driven strategies.
• Benchmark Beacon's rates against Medicare and market data to support negotiations.
• Manage health plan follow-up to keep negotiations on schedule and escalate stalled discussions.
• Review contract language and terms with Legal to flag risks and propose improvements.
• Maintain relationships with health plan network management and contracting leaders to expedite negotiations.
• Report to clinical stakeholders and physician leadership on contract status and performance.
• Coordinate rate implementation with Revenue Cycle Management and IT to ensure accurate fee schedules and payments.
• Collaborate with operations to add newly acquired entities to negotiations and strategic plans.
• Report contracting metrics and revenue changes to Beacon leadership.

Skills

Negotiation

Payer contracting

Relationship management

Data analysis

Financial modeling

Excel

Communication

Travel readiness

Education

Bachelor's degree in business, healthcare administration, finance, or related field

Tools

Excel

Contract management systems

AI tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

Position Title: Payer Contracting Sr Manager

Department: RCM

Position Summary

Beacon Behavioral Health is seeking an experienced payer contracting professional dedicated to growing reimbursement for our existing service lines. This role will report to the Vice President of Revenue Cycle Management and will be responsible for negotiating reimbursement increases for group health, Medicare Advantage, and Medicaid managed in established market ensuring consistent, proactive managed care contracting support across the company.

Beyond securing rate increases on existing health plan agreements, the manager will build a prioritized renegotiation calendar, track each negotiation from analysis to executed agreement, and report on contract performance. The role also requires ongoing payer relations to support revenue cycle operations. Ideal candidates have strong negotiation skills, established payer relationships, and the ability to sequence negotiations for efficient outcomes.

• Lead rate renegotiations with commercial, Medicare Advantage, and Medicaid managed care health plans for Beacon's existing practices, from initial proposal through executed agreement.
• Build and maintain an annual renegotiation calendar that covers every existing practice, prioritized by revenue opportunity, current rate position, contract renewal, and notice dates.
• Analyze payer mix, utilization, and reimbursement data to identify opportunities, and develop data-driven negotiation strategies.
• Benchmark Beacon's rates against Medicare, market, and payer price transparency data to build and defend negotiating positions.
• Independently manage health plan follow-up to keep negotiations on schedule, escalating stalled discussions.
• Review contract language, amendments, and payer policies to identify risks and opportunities with proposed terms, and partner with Legal to propose non-standard terms.
• Build and maintain relationships with health plan network management and contracting leaders, leveraging industry contacts to expedite contract related issues and negotiations.
• Report out to clinical stakeholders and physician leadership status of contracts and negotiations.
• Communicate and coordinate implementation of updated rates with Revenue Cycle Management, Credentialing, and IT to ensure fee schedules are maintained accurately and payments are monitored.
• Coordinate with operations to ensure newly acquired entities are added to existing negotiations and overall strategic plan.
• Report contracting metrics, including agreements executed, revenue change achieved, practice coverage, and pipeline status, to Beacon leadership.
• Maintain the contract management system with current agreements, amendments, fee schedules, and key dates.

Qualifications and Skills

• 5+ years of payer contracting or managed care experience negotiating provider reimbursement, from either the provider or payer side; behavioral health or physician group experience preferred.
• Proven history of negotiating and executing rate increases with measurable revenue results.
• Established relationships with payer network management contacts; experience in Beacon's geographic markets is helpful.
• Demonstrated ability to review and interpret payer contract language and identify financial and operational risks.
• Thorough knowledge of reimbursement methodologies, including fee schedules, percent-of-Medicare (RBRVS) arrangements, case rates, and value-based models.
• Highly self-directed, with the ability to manage multiple concurrent negotiations and follow through.
• Strong written and verbal communication and presentation skills, with the ability to engage confidently with internal and external leadership.
• Bachelor's degree in business, healthcare administration, finance, or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Strong analytical and financial modeling skills; advanced proficiency in Excel and Microsoft Office; comfort using contract management systems and AI tools to support contract review and analysis.
• Ability to travel occasionally to markets and payer meetings.