A 15 month stalemate between St. Joseph Health and CIGNA health insurance has ended.
The hospital group that includes St. Joseph’s and St. Luke’s announced CIGNA will return as an in-network carrier on March 1.
According to a St. Luke’s news release, that affects 66,000 people in southeast Texas.
St. Luke’s CEO stated in the release that the new contract addresses their financial sustainability without significantly affecting patients health insurance rates.
The new in-network agreement, which comes after the prior contract expired October 30 2021, also applies to St. Luke’s academic affiliate Baylor College of Medicine.
Negotiations continue with CIGNA’s transplant network to reach an agreement for those services.
News release from St. Luke’s Health, which includes St. Joseph Health, and the Baylor College of Medicine:
St. Luke’s Health, including St. Joseph Health, and its academic affiliate Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) are back in-network with Cigna, adding the insurer to a large group of in-network carriers. The agreements pave the way for more than 66,000 Cigna patients to receive their healthcare at hospitals in the St. Luke’s Health network or with a Baylor doctor. The effective date for St. Luke’s Health is March 1, 2023, and BCM’s date was January 9, 2023. Patients can begin making appointments for in-network services now; please ensure the appointment happens on/ after March 1, 2023.
St. Luke’s Health continues to work to quickly reach an agreement with Cigna LifeSOURCE, the transplant network, to ensure coverage for transplant-related care.
“The new contract is good news for thousands of families across Southeast Texas who are Cigna-insured and rely on St. Luke’s Health for their care,” said St. Luke’s Health CEO T. Douglas Lawson. “It allows us to continue to provide the essential high-value, high-quality care that our patients and their families expect from us.”
The newly signed contracts bring to an end a long period during which St. Luke’s Health hospitals and BCM physicians were out of network with Cigna. “Termination of our previous contract was a difficult decision,” said Lawson, “but it was necessary to address the financial sustainability of St. Luke’s Health. These are challenging economic times for everyone, and our new agreement ensures that our patients again have the option of choosing great healthcare at great value without significantly affecting their insurance rates.”
“We appreciate our patients, providers, employers and others who have supported our efforts during this period of termination,” said Lawson.
Cigna-insured patients who have questions about their healthcare options at St. Luke’s Health should contact a Cigna representative at the number on the back of their insurance card.