UW Medicine, Premera Blue Cross reach contract agreement [The Seattle Times]

Jun. 9—UW Medicine and Premera Blue Cross have reached a contract agreement after months of negotiations, allowing thousands of patients to continue care without any hiccups in insurance coverage.

The new three-year contract between the Seattle-based hospital system and Mountlake Terrace-based health insurer will go into effect July 1, the organizations announced Friday. In May, UW Medicine reported at least 175,000 patients were at risk of losing coverage if a deal couldn't be reached. Now, patients will be able to continue receiving care from their providers at in-network rates.

"The new contract represents a collaboration between two organizations that provides stability in today's rapidly changing health care environment," Dr. Tim Dellit, UW Medicine's interim CEO, said in a statement. "I am delighted that we can continue to provide in-network access to the high-quality care at UW Medicine for all of our Premera patients and families."

The agreement applies to all Premera insurance plans, including Medicare, commercial, individual and student insurance, the statement said. The contract covers care at Harborview Medical Center, UW Medical Center (Northwest and Montlake campuses) Valley Medical Center, UW Medicine primary care and care by UW physicians, including services at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center.

While the specifics of the contract remain confidential, the agreement "balances fair compensation for the health care system with continued access to high-quality, affordable care," the nonprofit insurer said in a statement.

"What's the most important thing is that our members continue to have access to the care they depend on from our partners at UW Medicine," Premera spokesperson Courtney Wallace wrote in an email. "We want to help keep costs affordable and ensure we continue to fairly compensate health systems like UW Medicine."

The announcement comes less than a month after UW Medicine notified thousands of patients that ongoing negotiations could mean an upcoming change in insurance coverage — a notification Premera administrators felt was premature.

UW Medicine had wanted to give patients "sufficient time to learn about their care options and make decisions on their future care needs" if the contract ended, but Premera leaders worried it caused "needless anxiety" among patients.

Although few details on the specifics of negotiations were available, Premera leaders said rates at which the company would reimburse hospitals for care was one of the main topics of discussion.

While UW Medicine has joined other hospitals in the state feeling financial strain due to higher costs for services and labor, particularly in the past year, Premera warned premiums could rise for patients if their reimbursement rates increased too much.

Major provider contract terminations are uncommon, Bill Akers, Premera's executive vice president of sales and marketing, said in an interview last month. At Premera, the last major contract that ended was in 2008 with Proliance Orthopaedics, a surgical practice with locations in Bellevue, Issaquah and Redmond.

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