Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, St. Francis Health Center and Saint John Hospital are pleased to announce they have agreed to terms on new contracts.
The new contracts provide Blue Cross members with uninterrupted, in-network access to St. Francis Health Center, Saint John Hospital in Leavenworth, and their affiliated facilities and physicians.
In addition, the agreement paves the way for Blue Cross and St. Francis to collaborate on development of an accountable care reimbursement model that gives providers incentives to deliver high-quality care while better controlling the rising cost of health care services.
“As we move forward in the age of health care reform, we recognize that the current reimbursement model must change in order to incent quality and control spiraling costs,” says Andrew C. Corbin, BCBSKS president/CEO. “We look forward to working with leaders at St. Francis to research, develop and pilot a mutually acceptable accountable care reimbursement model that, in time, might become the foundation on which we structure payment for many more of our providers. As always, our primary focus will be on assuring our members receive outstanding, quality care while keeping the health insurance premiums they pay affordable.”
“We’ve worked hard to finalize the details of a new agreement that benefits plan members and patients and will further improve community health,” said Robert Erickson, president/CEO at St. Francis Health Center. “Both parties have a shared responsibility to provide convenient access to high-value, high-quality care. This has resulted in the right agreement for our patients, while ensuring St. Francis can continue to offer the highest level of services, physicians and facilities in the future. We look forward to working with Blue Cross to transform health care in this changing environment.”
For BCBSKS members, nothing changes. They can continue to maximize their benefits by receiving covered services now and in 2013 at St. Francis Health Center, Saint John Hospital or from the affiliated professional providers, including St. Francis Clinics and Associates in Family Health. These facilities and providers are in-network, and members will be responsible for deductibles, copays or co-insurance required by their benefits plan, as these contracting providers will continue to accept the BCBSKS allowance as payment-in-full. In addition, there is no need to worry about non-contracting penalties and BCBSKS will continue to directly pay these providers.
In addition, St. Francis and Saint John will remain in the Plan 65-Select network, meaning Plan 65-Select members may continue to use those hospitals for pre-planned admissions. Members with Plan 65 Medicare supplement insurance will continue to have access to these providers.