Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas and Farmers Branch Southwest Health Resources will have no network contracts with each other after October 3 without a new agreement, WFAA reported September 20.
The Dallas Morning News reported that the impending hiatus could leave up to 450,000 people without network coverage in the northern part of the state.
Southwestern Health Resources operates 29 hospitals, including Presbyterian in Dallas, Arlington Memorial and Harris Methodist in Fort Worth. In total, the system serves more than 7 million people through Texas Health Resources and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Together they have more than 5,500 physicians and other clinicians.
BCBS, the state’s largest payer with 5 million members, said it received notice from Southwestern that it would exit the network if an agreement on reimbursement rates could not be reached. The two have been negotiating since July 2021.
“SWHR’s request for rates is clearly not in the best interests of our members, Dallas Fort-Worth businesses or the communities we serve,” a BCBS spokesperson said. WFAA.
Members enrolled in BCBS’s Par Plan, Blue Choice PPO, Blue Essentials, Medicaid and Medicare Advantage (both PPO and HMO) would all be out-of-network.
“We continue to negotiate and remain committed to reaching an agreement as soon as possible,” the supplier said. WFAA.
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