Dec. 7, 2016

An Update Regarding Dallas-Fort Worth Texas Health Resources and Texas Health Physicians Group

As we communicated on Sept. 19, our contracts with Texas Health Resources and Texas Health Physicians Group (Texas Health) expire Dec. 31, 2016. We are actively working to reach an agreement that would extend our current contracts. However, if we are not able to do so, Texas Health will no longer be part of our provider networks as of Jan. 1, 2017.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) offered Texas Health the opportunity to extend their current contracts for one year in order to give us additional time to negotiate longer-term contracts. Texas Health declined and countered by proposing the equivalent of new short-term contracts with egregious rate increases that would cause our members and employer groups to bear the burden of approximately $57 million in additional costs with no guarantee of better health outcomes.

Should Texas Health decide to leave our networks, members will still have access to more than 25,000 in-network doctors and more than 60 in-network hospitals in North Texas.

Our focus now will be on minimizing the impact of this change on our members. We have been working with doctors in the area to transition our members to alternative in-network hospitals and facilities. We understand that changing to another doctor can be difficult and we are here to help.

We will keep you updated on the situation, and have developed a website with helpful information: bcbstx.com/standingupforyou. Please check here often for updates.

Please contact your BCBSTX account representative with questions or concerns.