Wallingford-based health insurer Anthem has once again renewed its contract with the state’s largest health system, Yale New Haven Health, well ahead of schedule.
The two parties announced last week that they had reached a new “multi-year” agreement that will keep YNHH’s doctors and five hospitals within Anthem’s coverage network.
It’s the second consecutive renewal that the two sides have completed months ahead of schedule, after lawmakers in 2017, concerned by a contract stalemate between Anthem and Hartford HealthCare that year, sought to intercede with new legislation to prevent disruption and potential out-of-network bills for patients.
HHC, which after a number of acquisitions is now nearly as big as YNHH by annual revenue, argued at the time that Anthem was investing more in New Haven than in Hartford. HHC and Anthem reached a three-year agreement after legislative proposals cropped up.
Early the following year, Anthem and YNHH announced a contract renewal, running until late 2020, 10 months before their then-existing agreement was set to expire. That was in contrast to their 2016 renewal, which came just days shy of expiration.
In their latest announcement, Anthem and YNHH made no reference to prior tensions or legislative scrutiny.
“At a time when prioritizing the health of our communities is more important than ever, we are very pleased to have reached this agreement, which protects affordability for consumers and ensures our members continue to have access to quality care at Yale New Haven Health system,” said Jill Hummel, president of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Connecticut. “We value our partnership with Yale as we work together to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and improve lives and communities here in Connecticut.”
Along with various other insurers, Anthem — which has a significant market niche serving self-insured “large group” companies (50+ employees) in Connecticut — recently filed its 2021 rate requests with state regulators, including a 9.5% average increase for its small group customers.
The was slightly below the average requested small group increase from all insurers for next year, which was 11.3%.
