BRYAN, TX — St. Joseph Health has reached an agreement with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) on a new contract that will ensure coverage for 65,000 BCBSTX patients who choose to receive their health care at the hospitals in the St. Joseph Health network.
The new agreement is effective January 8, 2021.
The following is a statement about the agreement from T. Douglas Lawson, CEO of St. Luke's Health:
“This new contract is an affirmation of how important the choice to receive the accessible, value-driven medical care that we provide at St. Joseph Health is to the health of our community. The support St. Joseph Health received from patients, providers, employers and other leaders was tremendous. Termination of the contract last month was a difficult decision, especially in the face of COVID-19, but we knew it was a necessary decision as we could only continue to provide the value-driven care our community relies upon by addressing St. Joseph financial health. This agreement does that.
“As this new agreement goes into effect, our focus remains where it has always been--on patients. We’re eager to continue working with those BCBSTX customers who have remained under our care, and to working with those who find themselves in need of hospital-based care in the future.”
The Texas Division is a trusted and highly regarded resource in the greater Houston medical community, with an integrated health network dedicated to delivering advanced medical care and research, compassionate care and a Christian ministry of healing, according to St. Joseph Health.
In addition to its unique academic and community partnerships with Baylor College of Medicine, Texas A&M University, and the Texas Heart Institute, the division is nationally recognized as having some of the best physicians and hospitals in the country.
"The new agreement with BCBSTX will help Texas Division preserve the type of value-driven, high quality, and innovative care our patients and the community have come to expect."
"Choice is important and consumers rely on the division for services ranging from life-saving care at our regional facilities in communities like Lake Jackson, Lufkin, and Bryan-College Station to pioneering treatments such as double lung transplant care for COVID patients at our flagship academic medical center at Baylor St. Luke’s," the statement said.