Blue Cross Michigan Medicine Agreement Keeps Care In Network for Hundreds of Thousands
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Michigan Medicine reached a new long-term blue cross michigan medicine agreement on Wednesday, keeping Michigan Medicine in-network for hundreds of thousands of insurance members statewide. The deal preserves access to Michigan Medicine’s hospitals, clinics, and doctors after weeks of uncertainty for members who use that care.
Julie Ishak on patient access
Julie Ishak, Michigan Medicine’s chief nurse and operations executive, said the agreement keeps patients at the center of the talks. “Our goal was to always to keep the patient at the center of all of those conversations, and I think that we’ve reached an agreement now that allows our patients to receive care,” she said Wednesday after the announcement.
Ishak said the arrangement means patients will not face disruption moving forward. “For patients, this means nothing different. They’ll still be able to get the care that they’ve been getting at Michigan Medicine. They’ll still be able to see their same doctors and receive the same excellent nursing care,” she said.
Blue Cross members and Michigan Medicine
Weeks earlier, Blue Cross warned members to find new doctors after negotiations stalled. The two sides had clashed publicly over money, pay, and reimbursements, leaving Blue Cross members uncertain whether they could keep seeing Michigan Medicine doctors and using its facilities.
Mike Wilson, a Michigan Medicine patient and Blue Cross Blue Shield member, said the warning landed hard because his plan does not allow him to leave the state for care. “It was frustrating enough when you have an insurance company that will like deny a procedure or something like that. But then to go ahead and say, you better find a new doctor...it was educational for us,” he said.
Wilson said the dispute felt like leverage in a broader negotiation. “I think three weeks ago, they knew that it was probably going to get settled. It almost seems like they used us as a negotiating tool,” he said.
June 30 contract deadline
James Hicks, a Cooley law professor, said fights like this often turn on money and timing. “What it becomes, to some extent, is a game of financial chicken, where both have an incentive in maintaining the relationship. I don’t think either of them necessarily wanted to see the relationship severed,” he said.
He said the stakes rise quickly if reimbursements stop for long. “Michigan medicine... probably has some relatively deep pockets. So, it’s something they could deal with for a short period of time. But nobody can go without reimbursements for a significant period of time,” Hicks said. The organizations said they will keep meeting over the coming weeks to finalize details before the June 30 contract renewal deadline, and they said the contract details will not be made public.
