University Hospital, which has been struggling financially, has signed an agreement with Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Utah to service its Medicaid recipients.
About 4,000 people now receive Medicaid through Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Utah's HealthWise health-maintenance organization. That is out of a total of about 75,000 Wasatch Front residents who receive Medicaid, health assistance available to the poorer part of the population. It's not to be confused with Medicare, which is available to senior citizens.Mike Mitchell, vice president of provider relations for Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Utah, said the number of Medicaid people who have signed up with Blue Cross-Blue Shield is expected to grow soon, "because the state is intent to put most of the Medicaid recipients into HMOs by the end of the year."
The agreement between the University Hospital and Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Utah means "the university's going to be basically at risk, if you will, to manage the care of Medicaid recipients," he said.
This is a partnership between the insurance carrier and the university, he said.
Asked what it means for the university to be at risk, Mitchell said, "They'll receive a specific sum of money, and they'll have to manage the care within that allotted amount of money."
He said he was not at liberty to tell how much it is.
"I think the university has guaranteed access for as many as 30,000 recipients, but that's probably more on the optimistic side of it." The Medicaid recipients have the option of choosing among several competing HMOs.
The new arrangement is supposed to begin on Aug. 1.
According to Mitchell, Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Utah is the largest health-insurance provider in the state, covering 482,000 residents, not including 200,000 on Medicare.