Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield and Little Rock, Ark.-based CHI St. Vincent, under Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health, failed to reach an agreement ahead of their Sept. 1 contracting deadline.
CHI St. Vincent — including its four hospitals, 80 medical clinics and more than 300 providers — has left the provider networks for Arkansas Blue Cross members, according to an insurer news release.
Arkansas Blue Cross previously told Becker’s the update would affect most members, except for those with Medi-Pak Medicare supplement plans.
“We have communicated to CHI St. Vincent and CommonSpirit Health that if their focus or circumstances should change in the future, they have an open invitation to rejoin us in this work,” Alicia Berkemeyer, executive vice president and chief health management officer for Arkansas Blue Cross, said in a Sept. 1 statement.
In-network providers with admitting privileges who are not employed by the system, as well as prescriptions written by CHI St. Vincent providers and filled at in-network pharmacies, are not affected.
Members with eligible conditions can still access their providers at in-network rates via temporary continuity of care coverage.
“This was not the outcome we have been working toward, and please know that we have not and will not walk away,” a CHI St. Vincent statement said. “We remain fully committed to reaching a new agreement as quickly as possible, but the agreement must equitably address the need for fair reimbursement for the care we provide.”
Editor’s note: This story was first published Aug. 27 and updated Sept. 1.
