Negotiation Update
Despite our best efforts to reach an agreement with Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi, the insurance company has failed to do its part. UMMC is facing a time of unprecedented hardships brought on by the pandemic and increasing costs to provide care. We are committed to the process of finding an agreement with Blue Cross, but we cannot accept terms that jeopardize the vital and affordable health care we provide to the communities we serve.

We have been using every avenue to reach an agreement during this recent period of negotiation with Blue Cross, but Blue Cross will not join us in meaningful discussions to bring our hospitals, clinics, doctors and other providers back into its network. We will continue to advocate for the health and well-being of our patients and all Mississippians as we have for generations, but we cannot sacrifice our ability to continue providing needed care by accepting an agreement that does not fairly compensate us.

*Please remember, for emergencies, you can always access UMMC at any time to receive the care you urgently need and deserve. Emergency-based care is processed and billed as in-network.

Even though Blue Cross continues to reject us, we remain here for you.  Now is the time for employers to consider their employees’ interests and discuss with insurance brokers or benefits advisors about options that will secure in-network access to UMMC for the rest of 2022 and the 2023 benefit year. We partner with most major payors for commercial health insurers including those listed below:

• Aetna
• Cigna
• Humana
• UnitedHealthcare

You can see a full list of the commercial insurers we are currently in network with here. 

If you are an employer and have questions, please contact our Director of Managed Care Kelly Drosihn, at kdrosihn@umc.edu or 601-815-9664.

If you’re an employee covered by Blue Cross through your employer’s health plan, please contact your employer and urge them to consider an option that protects your in-network access to your trusted, high-quality UMMC doctors and hospitals.

Coverage Update

For patients who have received services at UMMC since the April 1, 2022 termination, we have held bills in a good faith effort in the hopes that Blue Cross would reasonably work to bring us back into its network so that we could have claims reprocessed at in-network rates. Since the termination, we have required patients to sign an acknowledgement form that explains that they may be responsible for the full cost of their visit or services rendered. Many of these bills have been held for several months but, at this point, we are forced to release these bills to collect payment.  

Also, patients who were covered by continuity-of-care provisions under your benefits plan that expired on June 30, 2022 but have continued seeking care at UMMC should also expect bills to collect payment in the coming weeks.

If you receive a bill and believe there is an error, please call us at 601-496-0008.

 *It is important to note that patients with Blue Cross insurance through the Mississippi State and School Employees’ Health Insurance Plan are not impacted by this change.