The UCLA Health System and Blue Shield of California announced last week the creation of a new contract that will allow Blue Shield Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) and Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) members to seek medical care through the UCLA Hospital System facilities.
Blue Shield and UCLA Health System’s previous contract agreement ended May 1 of this year.
Blue Shield and UCLA were previously engaged in negotiations over compensation rates, according to a university statement.
Blue Shield claimed in the past that UCLA’s rates were higher than other medical providers and refused to compensate some patients at the UCLA Medical Center, according to Daily Bruin archives.
UCLA, on the other hand, claimed that the costs were used to maintain first-rate medical offerings, according to the archives.
With the new contract, Blue Shield PPO members will have prompt access to UCLA Medical Group primary care and subspecialty providers.
“Blue Shield of California and UCLA Health System have come to a mutual agreement and are very pleased to have the contract reinstated,” said Roxanne Moster, a UCLA health sciences spokeswoman.
The three-year contract was made immediately effective on Oct. 15, 2008 and will end on Dec. 31, 2011.
Blue Shield members, who include California Public Employee Retirement System and Motion Picture Association members, can now receive medical treatment at the UCLA Health System, which is comprised of the UCLA Hospital System, the UCLA Medical Group and affiliates.
The contract agreement affects many other people in the area as well, according to a university statement.
In the statement, Juan C. Davila, Blue Shield’s vice president of network management, said, “Nearly 595,000 members in Los Angeles county will have broader access to quality medical care as a result of this agreement.”
It comes after UCLA and Blue Shield’s merging efforts to provide Southern Californians with medical access, said Blue Shield spokeswoman Ashley Wilkerson.
She said, “Blue Shield is very happy to have UCLA back in its network.”