SACRAMENTO, Calif., Jan. 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The following statement may be attributed to Sutter Health spokesperson Bill Gleeson:
"It is unfortunate that Blue Shield continues to hold patients hostage by refusing to accept a simple transition agreement that would ensure our patients get to keep the doctors they were promised during open enrollment while we work with their insurance company to determine whether a reasonable longer-term contract is even possible.
In a sincere effort to take patients out of the middle, preserve the doctors they were promised by Blue Shield during open enrollment, and give our patients time to consider other health plan options, we proposed to simply extend our transition agreement with 2014 contract terms and rates through the end of this year. We're disappointed Blue Shield is rejecting our offer despite collecting premium increases from its members this year of up to 23 percent.
Sutter Health takes seriously our role in helping to contain health care costs. We have made significant strides in recent years to reduce our costs, and our proposal for a longer-term contract to Blue Shield for a less than 1 percent increase is reasonable, and reflects our progress."
Visit Sutter Health's newsroom for details of its proposal to Blue Shield.
About Sutter Health
Serving patients and their families in more than 100 Northern California cities and towns, Sutter Health doctors, not-for-profit hospitals and other health care service providers share resources and expertise to advance health care quality and access. The Sutter Medical Network includes many of California's top-performing, highest-quality physician organizations as measured annually by the Integrated Healthcare Association. Sutter-affiliated hospitals are regional leaders in cardiac care, women's and children's services, cancer care, orthopedics and advanced patient-safety technology. For more information about the not-for-profit Sutter Health network visit: sutterhealth.org | facebook.com/sutterhealth | youtube.com/sutterhealth | twitter.com/sutterhealth
SOURCE Sutter Health
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