News
Blue Cross of California and Sutter Health Renew Contract
THOUSAND OAKS and SACRAMENTO, Calif., Nov. 12, 2003 — Blue Cross of California and Sutter Health today announced that they have reached agreement on a contract extension for 2004.
Services provided to Blue Cross members by Sutter Health affiliates will continue to be covered at their normal in-network benefit level according to Blue Cross policyholders' benefit terms. Members' care and access to Sutter facilities will continue uninterrupted.
"We're pleased with the outcome of our talks with Blue Cross," said Sutter Health Chief Financial Officer Robert Reed. "Together, we were able to address operational issues and solved specific concerns such as improved claims accuracy. I think this demonstrates a new level of problem solving and mutual cooperation in provider and health plan relations."
The contract extension 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 for all existing contractual products. The contract with Sutter Health covers all Blue Cross HMO and PPO members according to the benefit coverage they currently have in place. The extension will not affect or create any changes to Blue Cross patient benefits and coverage.
According to David Helwig, president of Blue Cross of California, "Our ability to negotiate early and reach a settlement demonstrates that our organizations can work together to reach an agreement that benefits patients and prevents any disruption in their continuity and access to care."
Sutter Health is one of the nation's leading not-for-profit networks of community-based health care providers, delivering high quality care in more than 100 Northern California communities. It is the regional leader in infant deliveries, neonatology, orthopedics and pediatric services. More information about Sutter Health
Blue Cross of California and its California affiliates, with more than 7 million medical members, is an 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 more than 14 million medical members and more than 50 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. Blue Cross of California can be found on the web at www.bluecrossca.com. Blue Cross of California is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Association.
Affected Sutter Health-Affiliated Physician Organizations
- California Pacific Medical Center Medical Foundation
- Palo Alto Medical Foundation
- Palo Alto Medical Clinic
- Santa Cruz Medical Clinic
- Camino Medical Group
- Sutter Gould Medical Foundation (San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties)
- Gould Medical Group
- Sutter Medical Foundation (Greater Sacramento Region)
- Sutter Medical Group
- Sutter West Medical Group
- Sutter Independent Physicians IPA (HMO product only)
- Sutter Medical Foundation North Bay (Sonoma County)
- Sutter Medical Group of the Redwoods
- Sutter North Medical Foundation (Northern Sacramento Valley)
- Sutter North Medical Group
- Sutter Regional Medical Foundation (Solano County)
- Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, Berkeley/Oakland
- Former Alta Bates Medical Center, Berkeley
- Former Summit Medical Center, Oakland
- California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco
- Eden Medical Center, Castro Valley
- Marin General Hospital, Greenbrae
- Memorial Hospital Los Banos
- Memorial Medical Center, Modesto
- Mills-Peninsula Health Services, San Mateo and Burlingame
- Novato Community Hospital, Novato
- St. Luke's Hospital, San Francisco
- Sutter Amador Hospital, Jackson
- Sutter Auburn Faith Hospital, Auburn
- Sutter Coast Hospital, Crescent City
- Sutter Davis Hospital, Davis
- Sutter Delta Medical Center, Antioch
- Sutter Lakeside Hospital, Lakeport
- Sutter Maternity & Surgery Center, Santa Cruz
- Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento
- Sutter General Hospital
- Sutter Memorial Hospital
- Sutter Center for Psychiatry
- Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa
- Sutter Roseville Medical Center, Roseville
- Sutter Solano Medical Center, Vallejo
- Sutter Tracy Community Hospital
- Sutter Warrack Hospital, Santa Rosa
Contact
Sutter Health
Karen Garner
(916)286-8297
garnerk@sutterhealth.org
Blue Cross of California
Michael Chee
(805) 557-6791
Ingelise Nielsen
(916)448-1439
(916)730-5949 cell