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In the wake of the deadly May 22 tornado, the Freeman Health System has announced a measure to help St. John’s Regional Medical Center patients with insurance.
“We want patients to have their benefits paid as in-network,” said Wes Braman, director of managed care/FPHO (Freeman Physician Hospital Organization) with Freeman Health System. “Typically in the past, most insurance plans around our area had either St. John’s that you went to or you went to Freeman. There were some that had both hospitals, but not very many. What we want is to extend to all insurance companies and all employers that we want benefits paid as in-network and we are willing to work with their insurance company or their administrator on discounting to ensure that benefits get paid that way.”
Braman said they have been in contact with most of the major insurance companies including, for example, Blue Cross / Blue Shield.
“And we have done this on the other side too, because we had a lot of people that were not able to come to Freeman, because it was an emergency or something of that nature or for where they were located,” he said. “So what we have done is we have waived, for example, Blue Cross, we waived exclusivity for Blue Cross for 30 days to allow people anywhere they want. But we are talking to a lot of insurance companies. Most of the time, the bigger employers in this region have self-funded plans, so we have talked to most of the employers as well. We have come up with about a dozen different options that they can choose from.”
He said the insurance companies understand what St. John’s is going through.
“Well, you know I think that they just look at it as a community as a whole,” Braman said. “That they understand that people are going to go to a lot of different places right now for care. And for the time being, try to make that as easy as possible.”
A Freeman spokeswoman said the hospital took in 60 critical-care patients from St. John’s the night of the tornado.
Branham said the insurance assistance would last at least a year.
“If somebody wants to go beyond a year, then we will discuss that with them,” he said.
For more information, please call 347-1111 and ask for Freeman Managed Care.
In the wake of the deadly May 22 tornado, the Freeman Health System has announced a measure to help St. John’s Regional Medical Center patients with insurance.
“We want patients to have their benefits paid as in-network,” said Wes Braman, director of managed care/FPHO (Freeman Physician Hospital Organization) with Freeman Health System. “Typically in the past, most insurance plans around our area had either St. John’s that you went to or you went to Freeman. There were some that had both hospitals, but not very many. What we want is to extend to all insurance companies and all employers that we want benefits paid as in-network and we are willing to work with their insurance company or their administrator on discounting to ensure that benefits get paid that way.”
Braman said they have been in contact with most of the major insurance companies including, for example, Blue Cross / Blue Shield.
“And we have done this on the other side too, because we had a lot of people that were not able to come to Freeman, because it was an emergency or something of that nature or for where they were located,” he said. “So what we have done is we have waived, for example, Blue Cross, we waived exclusivity for Blue Cross for 30 days to allow people anywhere they want. But we are talking to a lot of insurance companies. Most of the time, the bigger employers in this region have self-funded plans, so we have talked to most of the employers as well. We have come up with about a dozen different options that they can choose from.”
He said the insurance companies understand what St. John’s is going through.
“Well, you know I think that they just look at it as a community as a whole,” Braman said. “That they understand that people are going to go to a lot of different places right now for care. And for the time being, try to make that as easy as possible.”
A Freeman spokeswoman said the hospital took in 60 critical-care patients from St. John’s the night of the tornado.
Branham said the insurance assistance would last at least a year.
“If somebody wants to go beyond a year, then we will discuss that with them,” he said.
For more information, please call 347-1111 and ask for Freeman Managed Care.
