Community Healthcare System and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Reach Multi-Year Contract Providing In-Network Coverage for Patients

chs-stockCommunity Healthcare System announces that it signed today a multi-year contract keeping its three Northwest Indiana hospitals in the Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance network. The new three-year agreement also makes provisions to extend in-network coverage for patients who sought care after the contract termination on December 31, 2015.

With this new agreement in place, every patient with Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield and other Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance plans (including Blue Cross of Illinois and Highmark) will be covered at the in-network benefit level for inpatient and outpatient services provided from January 1, 2016 by Community Hospital in Munster; St. Catherine Hospital in East Chicago and St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart.

“We are pleased to be able to reach a multi-year contract with Anthem honoring the choice of so many people in our community,” said John Gorski, President and CEO of Community Healthcare System. “The termination and prolonged contract negotiations have been the source of great concern for our patients and employer groups and for that, we are truly sorry. Our goal in these negotiations has always been to ensure that our hospitals have the resources to provide the high quality care our patients have come to expect from us.

“Another important aspect in our negotiations was getting assurances from Anthem to treat all our patients who sought care after the contract termination as if they were still in-network so they do not face higher out-of-pocket expenses,” Gorski said. “We did not want any of our patients to continue to be caught in the middle of this dispute. We value the trust our patients have in us to do the right thing.”

Community Healthcare System has designated patient representatives who will be able to work through any payment or insurance issues that have arisen since the contract termination on Dec. 31. A patient representative can be reached by calling 219-934-8888.