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In a last-minute agreement, Legacy Health system will remain in-network for around 200,000 patients insured by Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon. The contract between the health system and insurance company was set to expire at midnight, which would have resulted in higher out-of-network fees or the need to find another provider starting Monday.
The two organizations had publicly blamed each other for the failure to reach an accord while warning patients of the potential expiration of the contract. This marks the second time this year that such a dramatic deal has played out between Regence and a Portland-area health system, as Providence Health & Services also reached a deal with Regence on January 15, the day before their contract was set to expire.
Regence and Legacy did not provide much detail on Sunday night about the specifics of the deal, simply stating that there would be no disruption in service. Legacy’s chief population health officer, Merrin Permut, expressed happiness that patients will be able to continue seeing their trusted providers and receiving services at Legacy hospitals without any interruptions.
