TACOMA — A standoff between Tacoma’s MultiCare health system and Regence BlueShield is over.
In an update Thursday on Regence’s blog, the insurer said that MultiCare had “rescinded its termination and will remain in-network for Regence members.”
“This means Regence members may continue to access care from MultiCare providers and facilities using in-network benefits,” it added.
MultiCare, in a statement, said it was “pleased to announce that we’ve reached an agreement with Regence BlueShield and Asuris on a new contract.”
It added, “This new agreement will enable MultiCare to keep pace with the rising cost of health care while delivering quality care to our Regence and Asuris patients. Patients shouldn’t see any disruption in their care.”
On Jan. 23, Regence BlueShield announced it was involved in negotiations with MultiCare following a contract termination action invoked by the health system midway through its contract. If new terms had not been reached, patients insured by Regence would have lost MultiCare as an in-network provider as of March 1.
MultiCare blamed higher costs in health care overall made worse by inflation, while Regence had pushed back on the amounts of requested increases.
The two sides continued negotiations, and Regence noted in its announcement that it “regularly negotiates with hospitals and provider systems on treatment costs,” and that they generally “never become public knowledge.”
“However, in some cases, when negotiations reach a certain point, we are required to notify anyone who may be directly affected when a provider might leave our network.”
Regence said it recognized the “distress” caused by the uncertainty in finding new providers, adding “we thank all those affected for their patience while we brought this to resolution.”
