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State officials say MultiCare, Regions reached retroactive deal; Premera extends talks another month
Summary
Health Care Authority staff told the School Employees Benefits Board that MultiCare and Regions signed a written contract retroactive to May 10, restoring in-network status for services received during the dispute; Premera agreed to a 30-day extension through June 30 as negotiations continue.
Chair Ryan Moran opened the meeting and handed the update to Dave Eisbinger, who reported on recent provider negotiations affecting the PEP/SEBB retiree population. "MultiCare and Regions have, have a new written agreement for a long term contract, which goes through at least the end of next year," Eisbinger said, and the staff noted that the agreement is retroactive to May 10. Those retroactive terms mean that some services provided during the dispute will be treated as in-network for plan members.
Board members pressed staff on what retroactivity would mean for members' bills. Eisbinger explained that in instances without retroactivity, some specialist services could have been subject to higher member cost-sharing and potential balance billing; he gave a general example that certain services might have been subject to a 60/40 coinsurance split and that balance billing by a provider would have been possible while out of network. Chair Moran described the member experience during the disruption as "the chaos, that people were in related to the situation is absolutely unacceptable," and staff said HCA will continue to coordinate communications to minimize consumer harm.
On the Premera-MultiCare front, Eisbinger said Premera agreed to a temporary 30-day extension to June 30 while negotiators continue to seek a longer-term deal and that staff expect weekly status updates. He warned the board that Premera’s network status has collateral impacts across the state's portfolios because of the way provider contracting overlaps regionally. The board did not take a vote on policy at this meeting; staff indicated further policy work and potential legislative levers may be discussed in future sessions as they study the effects of large-scale terminations.
