Blue Shield and Sutter Health Update

Dear Local 21 Member,

We wanted to let you all know that we just got word that the Blue Shield and Sutter Health negotiations have produced a new, two year agreement, which we believe will preserve our members access to Sutter facilities. Details are still coming in, but we believe that this agreement serves all parties involved well and ensures that our members will continue having access to their healthcare providers.

We also wanted to thank all of you who reached out to us and the insurance and healthcare companies – it was your early interest and all of our focus on this issue which was a contributing factor to the outcome.

We will send more information to you all, as we receive reports and details, in the coming days.

For the Union,

Michael R. Seville, Esq.
Director of Research, Policy, and Communications
 



Sutter Health Coverage for Blue Shield Participants in Danger


 


January 29, 2015


If you have Blue Shield healthcare coverage, you may have recently received a notice about a breakdown in negotiations between Sutter and Blue Shield that has resulted in the termination of Blue Shield’s contract with Sutter Health.  If you haven’t seen this notice, you can find it on our website. 


The potential impact to our Members — having to change doctors or a hospital in the next few months — is absolutely unacceptable and must be avoided.  We are monitoring the issue closely, and have reports that the two parties are currently bargaining over resolving their dispute.


We are also working with other Unions representing workers affected by this decision to coordinate our response.  Should the parties not be able to resolve their issues, we will urge each effected jurisdiction to allow employees to change coverage plans, if needed.  As we hear of new developments, we will let you know.


 



 


Sutter Health Coverage for Blue Shield Participants


January 16, 2015







If you have Blue Shield health care coverage, you may have recently gotten a notice informing you of a breakdown in negotiations between Sutter and Blue Shield that has resulted in the termination of Blue Shield’s contract with Sutter Health.  If you haven’t seen this notice, you can find it here.  The potential impact to our members of having to change doctors and hospitals in the next few months is absolutely unacceptable and must be avoided.

While we rarely take sides in internal disputes of this nature, we believe that in this case Sutter Health’s contract demands of Blue Shield are completely unreasonable. If accepted, they will severely limit our members’ basic legal rights and negatively impact the affordability of our healthcare coverage.

We are working with other unions representing workers affected by this decision to coordinate our response.
We hope that creating pressure on Sutter encourages them to reach agreement with Blue Shield in time that none of our members need to choose alternate providers.  The soonest members need to migrate is by April 1 (clink link above for more information about specific changes).  We are recommending that members do not migrate away from Sutter at this point.  We will continue to monitor negotiations and update you as to the results, including any coordinated effort’s with other unions.