Blue Cross and Sutter Health Reach Agreement
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Blue Cross of California, an operating subsidiary of Well Point Health Network, (NYSE:WLP) and the Sutter Health network of hospitals and doctors announced today that they have reached agreement on a new multi-year contract.
The contract is retroactive to January 1, 2001, when the previous contract ended. This means services provided to Blue Cross members by Sutter physicians or at Sutter hospitals between January 1 and the signing of the new agreement will be covered at the in-network benefit level according to the specific Blue Cross policy holder's benefit terms.
Previously, the contract between Sutter Health and Blue Cross had terminated at midnight, December 31, 2000.
The new agreement allows Blue Cross of California members access to all of Sutter Health's 26 Northern California hospitals and to physicians affiliated with Sutter medical foundations. The contract with Sutter Health covers all Blue Cross HMO and PPO members according the benefit coverage they currently have in place. Previous announcements made by Blue Cross officials regarding benefit and payment adjustments are superceded by the new contract. All Blue Cross HMO members who were reassigned to new primary care physicians as a result of Sutter's termination, will be reassigned back to their Sutter doctor only if they request a reassignment from Blue Cross directly.
In a joint statement, Sutter Health President and CEO Van R. Johnson and Blue Cross of California President Ron Williams said "We are pleased that we have been able to resolve our differences with a new multi-year contract that provides Blue Cross members with full access to Sutter Health's affiliated physicians and hospitals in Northern California."
Johnson and Williams added, "We very much regret the disruptions and uncertainty that Blue Cross members and Sutter Health patients have experienced during the past several weeks. It is our goal to develop and maintain a collaborative and positive relationship going forward."
Negotiations between Sutter Health and Blue Cross were restarted following a meeting initiated by Assemblywoman Helen Thomson in Sacramento on February 7. Both Sutter and Blue Cross have worked since then to reach today's successful agreement. Financial terms and conditions will not be made public as per normal policy.
"Assemblywoman Thomson was instrumental in helping get our negotiations back on track," said Johnson and Williams. "Her guidance and willingness to engage with our organizations helped bring us to this successful conclusion."
One of the nation's leading non-profit networks of community health care services, Sutter Health serves more than twenty Northern California counties, from the Oregon border to the San Joaquin Valley, and from the Pacific coast to the Sierra foothills. Sutter medical centers care for more inpatients than any other network in Northern California, and lead the market in infant deliveries; neonatology, orthopedics, pediatrics and cancer care services. Sutter Health has care centers in more than 100 Northern California cities and towns; more than two dozen acute care hospitals; physician training programs, medical research facilities, region-wide home health, hospice and occupational health networks; and long term care centers.
Blue Cross of California, with 5.5 million medical members in the state, is the California operating subsidiary of WellPoint Health Networks Inc., one of the nation's largest publicly traded health care companies. WellPoint serves the health care needs of nearly 7.9 million medical and more than 40 million specialty members nationally. WellPoint offers a broad spectrum of quality network-based health products including open access PPO, POS and hybrid products, HMO and specialty products. Specialty products include pharmacy benefit management, dental, utilization management, vision, mental health, life and disability insurance, long term care insurance, flexible spending accounts, COBRA administration, and Medicare supplements.
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