Syracuse, N.Y. — Excellus BlueCross BlueShield and St. Joseph’s Health have reached a multi-year contract agreement effective Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025, that will keep St. Joseph’s Health in the Excellus BCBS provider network.
A spokesperson for St. Joseph’s Health confirmed the agreement with CNY Central late Tuesday night. The following statement was provided:
St. Joseph’s Health and Excellus BCBS are glad to reach an agreement that allows St. Joseph’s Health to remain in the Excellus BCBS network while preserving patients’ access to high-quality care that’s as affordable as possible. Excellus BCBS members can continue to seek care from St. Joseph’s Health as they always have without disruption.
CNY Central has been shining a light on this multi-billion dollar dispute between Trinity Health and Excellus, with patients caught in the middle.
Starting in September, patients with St. Joseph’s Health began receiving letters explaining that there is a high risk that coverage under Excellus may be gone in 2025. St. Joseph’s Health President and CEO Steven Hanks told patients in that letter that Excellus is frequently denying patient claims and has delayed payments, calling upon Excellus to “pay us fairly for the care we provide.”
At that moment, the two sides appeared to be in danger of not reaching a new agreement, with some patients deciding to change insurance providers during the open-enrollment period to end 2024.
In recent weeks, agreements seemed to be working in the right direction, with an extension agreed upon by the two companies through the end of February.
Source: Excellus and St. Joseph's Health end insurance dispute, multi-year deal reached
