Northwestern Medicine, which operates Delnor Hospital in Geneva and 10 other hospitals in northern Illinois, will be dropped from Meridian Health’s network on Jan. 1, a move impacting thousands of patients.
Courtesy of Northwestern Medicine
Health insurance provider Meridian Health no longer will accept Northwestern Medicine health system in network beginning Jan. 1, a health system spokesman confirmed.
That decision is expected to affect “tens of thousands” of patients, including many who receive their health insurance through Medicaid, said Christopher King, a spokesperson for Northwestern Medicine.
“It’s unfortunate because they’re the ones that dropped Northwestern Medicine,” King said. “That was not an us decision. They alerted us, and we were kind of surprised and shocked they did that. And so those patients that were impacted, and it was significant, we’re reaching out to them to get them transitioned to another plan within the Northwestern Medicine system.”
The health system sees about 1.2 million patients across at about 200 locations, including hospitals in Geneva, Huntley, Lake Forest, McHenry and Winfield.
Melissa Kula, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, said the agency is working with patients to ensure they continue to get access to necessary health care.
“The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services will continue working with Northwestern and Meridian to minimize any negative impacts to Illinois Medicaid customers,” Kula said. “HFS will open a special enrollment period for consumers who are assigned to a Northwestern Medicine primary care provider. In addition, HFS will strongly enforce requirements that ensure customers’ continuity of care is maintained and that they maintain access to high-quality health care services.”
Northwestern Medicine issued an announcement about the Meridian Medicaid termination contract Nov. 25 on its website. The contract ends Dec. 31. Beginning Jan. 1, affected patients will need to choose a new plan if they want to continue getting care at Northwestern Medicine.
King said patients should receive letters from both Meridian and Northwestern Medicine. He recommends that patients visit the health system’s website to learn more about plans it accepts before the end of the year.
Northwestern Medicine accepts two other insurance providers for Medicaid patients: Blue Cross Community Health plans and CountyCare, the latter of which is available for Cook County residents only.
“The biggest thing is (to) reach out to your insurance provider, then see what’s available,” King said. “I know we’re doing everything we can for the continuum of care, because a lot of Meridian users are Medicaid patients as well. We’re trying to make sure their coverage isn’t dropped.”
Meridian did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
Temporary exceptions to qualify for Meridian-insured care past the new year include patients who are undergoing active cancer treatment or being treated for an organ transplant, are in the second or third trimester of pregnancy, already have scheduled surgeries before Dec. 31 to happen between Jan. 1 and March 31, already have scheduled behavioral health services to be provided between Jan. 1 and March 31, or already have scheduled primary care appointments to happen between Jan. 1 and Feb. 28.
Patients with additional questions can visit www.nm.org to learn more about in-network health insurance plans.