Asheville, N.C.-based Mission Health reached an agreement with Blue Shield of North Carolina to participate in the Blue Cross networks, according to the Citizen Times.
The two have spent the past six months in dispute after the system canceled their prior deal due to rising costs of providing healthcare. Here are four things to know:
1. The deal will allow Mission to rejoin Blue Cross networks Dec. 15; the health system dropped out of Blue Cross networks in October after its previous agreement ended. Blue Cross covers around 260,000 individuals in Western North Carolina, according to the report.
2. Blue Cross network beneficiaries in the area will be able to pay in-network rates for care at Mission facilities, which include several outpatient locations.
3. The deal's details are confidential, although Blue Cross did said the circumstances surrounding the contract termination were unusual. Mission had told the payer in July that it planned to terminate its contract because the sides were unable to reach an agreement on acceptable terms.
4. When Mission Health initially terminated its contract, the health system cited higher costs for labor, equipment and medications among the reasons why it would not have been able to sustain care for Blue Cross beneficiaries under previously discussed terms.