Hospital Bills

CHOMP - Blue Shield agreement vows to lower healthcare costs

Monday, December 27, 2010

Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula (CHOMP) has reached an agreement with Blue Shield of California to make local care more affordable to Blue Shield members, according to a joint press release. The two-year agreement will go into effect January 1^st.

The agreement will allow for specialists that CHOMP bills to be considered in-network providers, which is expected to lower patient bills for radiology, radiation oncology, pathology, psychiatry, and emergency medicine.

The agreement also establishes the first stages of a collaborative effort between CHOMP and Blue Shield to lower the patient costs of healthcare long-term. “In addition to making it more cost-effective for Blue Shield members to access specialists at CHOMP, this agreement puts us on a path to partner and construct innovative solutions that reduce the cost of healthcare in Monterey County,” said Juan Davila, senior vice president for Blue Shield of California, in a statement.

This agreement comes less than a month after CHOMP reached a two-year agreement with Anthem Blue Cross to offer the lowest available copays and deductibles to plan members. Together, these agreements “reflect the progress Community Hospital has made in reducing costs to preserve the community’s access to our services while ensuring that we remain sustainable and viable,” said Steven Packer, MD, CEO and president of CHOMP, in a statement.