We know there may be some confusion regarding our negotiations with CHI Memorial and the impact on your care. We hear you, and we understand you value CHI Memorial’s services.
At the same time, we’re excited to bring Parkridge into Network S, alongside Erlanger. And we have a large number of physician practices in Network S who are also ready to meet your care needs. You can find out more here.
We’ve gotten a lot of questions from members about the Network S decision, so we’d like to remind you how we ended up here.
- CHI Memorial came to us asking to terminate our contract and seeking a $70 million rate increase, which would cause you – our members – to pay significantly more for care in 2025 and beyond.
- Considering CHI Memorial’s request, we invited qualified area providers to bid for a spot in Blue Network SSM alongside Erlanger. This gave CHI Memorial the opportunity to stay in that network if they came to the table with competitive rates. When they did not, we determined Parkridge was the best Chattanooga-area partner for Network S to maintain affordable, high-quality care for our members. And we’re excited about moving forward with Parkridge’s hospitals.
- Though they were not selected in the RFP process, we made an offer to keep CHI Memorial physicians in Network S. We continue to hope CHI Memorial will accept this offer, which would allow our members to keep their same doctors.
- This Network S decision does not impact Medicare Advantage members. CHI Memorial still has an opportunity to be in Network PSM, as well as our Medicare Advantage and BlueCare networks, if they accept our offers.
We’re advocating for the community by focusing on affordability.
What’s next?
We share our members’ desire to avoid a disruption in care, but we still need CHI Memorial and their parent company, CommonSpirit, to accept our offer that preserves affordability for Network P members.
BlueCross is committed to providing the best possible service and meeting the high standards we’ve set as a partner supporting quality, cost-effective health care for our members.
What about Network P?
We are still currently in negotiations with CommonSpirit and CHI Memorial regarding Network P. Our current offer with CommonSpirit for Network P provides a rate increase. Local hospitals in Network P include Erlanger, Parkridge and CHI Memorial, as well as Tennova in Cleveland.
Our hope is that CHI Memorial and CommonSpirit will accept our offer before June 30, 2024, so that they remain in-network for Medicare Advantage, BlueCare and Network P. Unfortunately, if we’re unable to reach an agreement, CHI Memorial will be out-of-network for all members on July 1, 2024.
Read more about our continuity of care policy, which ensures you continue to get the care you need.