As of the printing of PSU, negotiation between Partners and Tufts have resumed with a goal of reaching a mutually beneficial agreement.
After months of negotiations, Partners physicians and hospitals had announced that they planned to end participation in the Tufts insurance plan as of April 1, 2001. Along with BWH and its physicians, Partners hospitals and physicians joined in this decision include MGH, North Shore Medical Center, Newton-Wellesley Hospital, Faulkner Hospital, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and the Partners Community HealthCare network. The Tufts senior plan, Secure Horizons which is accepted by BWH specialists, is unaffected.
The key issue in the negotiations was reversing chronic shortfalls in the amount of Tufts reimbursement. Partners hospitals lost $42 million on the Tufts contract in just the past two years. The hospitals ran a 1999 deficit of 17 percent on the contract. Physicians have not seen their Tufts fees increase in five years. During that time, inflation and the cost of care have risen more than 13 percent, but Tufts reimbursements have not kept pace.
To help minimize the impact on patients throughout the system, Partners sent a letter to all Tufts patients, their doctors and their employers to alert them to this decision and to their options for continuing to be cared for by Partners physicians and hospitals. To provide information for both patients and Partners employees, a web site has been set up at www.partners.org/tufts, as well as a call center to answer questions. The call center number is 1-800-554-9545.
Similarly, if an agreement is not reached, Tufts health insurance plan will not be offered to BWH employees as of April 1, 2001. Those currently enrolled in Tufts, will receive a letter with detailed information about this change and health coverage options. Employees may choose to change plans during the open enrollment period (Oct. 23-Nov. 6). Sometime before April 1, BWH employees who are Tufts subscribers will be able to select an alternate health care plan, if an agreement is not reached.