Medicare Patients
A Special Message for our patients considering Medicare or changes to their Medicare plan:
You are at risk for not having full coverage for urology care with IBC.
In the autumn months, patients eligible for Medicare have the opportunity to change their health insurance coverage during “open enrollment” which ends December 7, 2011.
Before you make any decisions about your Medicare insurance coverage, Academic Urology wants you to know that Independence Blue Cross (IBC) intends to remove Academic Urology from its network of providers, effective December 1. Patients enrolled in IBC’s Medicare plans (such as Personal Choice 65, Keystone 65, or AmeriHealth 65) will not have full coverage for services provided by Academic Urology.
Please think carefully before signing up for an IBC Medicare plan. As of today, our contract with IBC will expire on November 30, 2011. Academic Urology is trying to negotiate with IBC. The insurer has so far refused to negotiate, and, in a recent face-to-face meeting, insisted that Academic Urology accept a “take-it-or-leave-it” contract that our analysis indicates would reduce our reimbursement by 38 percent. We are simply unable to accept such a proposal, because a cut of this magnitude would harm our ability to provide you with the high quality urologic care you deserve and expect. While we remaining willing to negotiate, we must assume that Academic Urology will not have a contract with IBC on December 1, 2011, and will be considered an “out of network” provider. The only way for you to avoid this problem and to ensure full coverage for your care from Academic Urology is to not enroll in any IBC Medicare plan and to choose a different health insurer’s Medicare plan or the traditional Medicare plan itself.
Academic Urology maintains full relationships with virtually every other private insurer in the region, along with the traditional Medicare program. If you are uncertain or if you have any questions about an insurer’s relationship with Academic Urology, please speak to your urologist or the manager at any of our office locations. You can find office locations and contact information on our web site,
www.academicurology.com.
As always, our first goal is to provide you with outstanding urologic care. Academic Urology has a proven record of quality and innovation, and has implemented programs to make our care more efficient and safer. We operate a leading Prostate Radiation Center, have one of the few certified pathology labs dedicated to urology in the area, and are among the first urology specialty practices to implement Electronic Medical Records. Our physicians include fellowship-trained specialists in urologic cancer, robotics, incontinence, and other disciplines. Accepting significant cuts from IBC puts our ability to provide these services to you at risk.
We want to reach a new agreement with IBC, and we deeply appreciate that so many patients have supported our efforts to do so. Your actions so far have prompted IBC to contact us, though they continue to refuse to negotiate. Even though the deadline is only about a week away, there is still time to negotiate and there is still time for you to continue making your voice heard. If you have not done so already, we hope you will consider taking any or all of the action steps below:
Switch your health insurance: As mentioned above, Academic Urology maintains contracts with most other health insurers in our region, including Aetna. Our web site includes a list of insurers with which we have contracts.
Contact IBC: Patients should email Dan Hilferty, IBC’s President and CEO, at
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, and I. Steven Udvarhelyi, MD, IBC’s Executive VP for Health Services at
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. You can also write to both Mr. Hilferty and Dr. Udvarhelyi at Independence Blue Cross, 1901 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103. Please send a copy of any email to IBC to
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. Copies of paper correspondence can also be sent to Academic Urology at 211 South Gulph Road, King of Prussia, PA 19406.
Contact your elected leaders in Harrisburg: You can find contact information for your state representative and senator at www.legis.state.pa.us. Just look for “Who Is My Legislator?” and enter your address. It is important for your elected officials to hear from you about IBC’s potential disruption of your physician relationship.
Contact the PA Department of Insurance: Patients can register complaints about health insurers by calling 1-877-881-6388 or visiting the Department web site at www.insurance.pa.gov.
As the December 1 deadline approaches, we can promise you that Academic Urology will always be available to care for your needs, regardless of what your insurance company does. We appreciate your understanding and support. Please visit our web site,
www.academicurology.com, for additional information and updates.
Sincerely,
David J. Ellis, MD, FACS
President, Academic Urology
