ATLANTA - Blue Cross Blue Shield and Piedmont Healthcare have officially signed a deal after months of negotiating ended up with, dropped coverage and patient panic.
Piedmont Healthcare confirmed the news to 11Alive.
The deal was signed on Friday, according to Piedmont Healthcare. In a press release, Piedmont said they will being calling patients who canceled appointments for hospital-based services but are also encouraging patients to call and reschedule their appointments.
“Preserving the relationship between the patient and their preferred healthcare provider has been our number one goal during this entire negotiation,” said Kevin Brown, Piedmont Healthcare President and Chief Operating Officer. “We know this has been difficult for our patients, and we are glad to finally have a resolution that restores and protects patient care.”
Blue Cross Blue Shield also released a statement saying they are pleased with the agreement.
"The thousands of businesses and 3.5 million consumers we serve across Georgia trusted us to reach an agreement with Piedmont that continues to deliver access to high quality health care that is affordable. We are pleased that the new agreement will enable our consumers to continue to access affordable care through all Piedmont hospitals and physicians that are now back in our network."
Last week, Governor Deal announced a "handshake" agreement between the two companies that extended coverage through the period of time when negotiations fell through.
For patients who went to a Piedmont Heathcare facility for treatment after April 1, during the period when coverage was dropped, billing will be treated as "in-network." That "in-network" status will extend until May 31.
On June 1, the new agreement between the two companies will begin and lasts until 2021.
New agreement
The new agreement is essentially a three-year contract that will ensure patients who have Blue Cross Blue Shield to continue to see their Piedmont doctors without getting higher costs.
“This deal ensures no interruption of coverage for Georgians using Piedmont Healthcare as a provider during the contract dispute,” according to a tweet from Governor Nathan Deal last week.
Piedmont said if patients need to confirm their in-network status, they should call the number of on the back of the insurance cards.
