Baylor Scott and White Health and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas will extend their provider and facilities contracts until Oct. 1, averting disruptions in care for patients with BCBSTX insurance.
The health system and the insurer had previously alerted patients that they would lose access to in-network benefits at BSWH facilities by July 1 if the two parties could not reach an agreement over reimbursement rates for health care costs before that time.
“The three-month extension means Baylor Scott & White providers, hospitals and other facilities will remain in network for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas members while we continue to work to finalize a longer-term agreement,” representatives for BSWH and BCBSTX said in a joint statement.
BCBSTX representatives said earlier in June that BSWH planned to terminate its agreements with the insurer unless “we significantly increase what we pay them.”
BSWH is the largest nonprofit health system in Texas, with 51 hospitals and more than 800 patient care sites in the state. Meanwhile, BCBSTX is the state’s most active insurer, claiming around a quarter of the health insurance market in Texas.
