OSF HealthCare hospitals, doctor's offices, and home care services will soon no longer accept Medicaid and Medicare patients enrolled in a Meridian-managed plan.
OSF will stop accepting patients covered under Meridian plans on Dec. 15. OSF HealthCare Senior Vice President of Population Health Randy Billings said they have worked with Meridian for months to renegotiate contract language with "acceptable provisions," but haven't been able to come to an agreement.
OSF said it will still accept Medicaid and Medicare patients under other managed plans. OSF said it will work with Meridian to ensure "safe and clinically appropriate transition of care as needed."
Patients were notified Tuesday.
Meridian serves about 800,000 Illinois Medicaid users, and about 80,000 Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plan users.
“OSF HealthCare has been a valued partner of MeridianHealth for many years. We are currently working with OSF on the terms of a new contract and remain hopeful that an agreement will be reached," said a Meredith spokesperson. "In the meantime, our members’ continuity of care remains our number-one priority. In the event we are unable to reach an agreement, we have a comprehensive process in place to transition our members to alternative providers within the MeridianHealth network.”
In recent years, OSF has also announced impasses in negotiations with Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Illinois and the Caterpillar PPO administered by UnitedHealthCare. In both of those cases, new agreements were reached before the existing contracts expired.
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