TX Division Reaches Agreement with Blue Cross Blue Shield

BRYAN, TX (January 8, 2021) – St. Joseph Health has reached an agreement with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) on a new contract that will ensure coverage for 65,000 BCBSTX patients who choose to receive their health care at the hospitals in the St. Joseph Health network.

The new agreement is effective January 8, 2021. The following is a statement about the agreement from T. Douglas Lawson, CEO of St. Luke's Health:

“This new contract is an affirmation of how important the choice to receive the accessible, value-driven medical care that we provide at St. Joseph Health is to the health of our community. The support St. Joseph Health received from patients, providers, employers and other leaders was tremendous. Termination of the contract last month was a difficult decision, especially in the face of COVID-19, but we knew it was a necessary decision as we could only continue to provide the value-driven care our community relies upon by addressing St. Joseph financial health. This agreement does that.

“As this new agreement goes into effect, our focus remains where it has always been--on patients. We’re eager to continue working with those BCBSTX customers who have remained under our care, and to working with those who find themselves in need of hospital-based care in the future.”

The Texas Division is a trusted and highly regarded resource in the greater Houston medical community, with an integrated health network dedicated to delivering advanced medical care and research, compassionate care and a Christian ministry of healing. In addition to its unique academic and community partnerships with Baylor College of Medicine, Texas A&M University, and the Texas Heart Institute, the division is nationally recognized as having some of the best physicians and hospitals in the country.

The new agreement with BCBSTX will help Texas Division preserve the type of value-driven, high quality, and innovative care our patients and the community have come to expect.  Choice is important and consumers rely on the division for services ranging from life-saving care at our regional facilities in communities like Lake Jackson, Lufkin, and Bryan-College Station to pioneering treatments such as double lung transplant care for COVID patients at our flagship academic medical center at Baylor St. Luke’s.

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St. Joseph Health is comprised of five hospitals across the Brazos Valley, including Regional Hospital in Bryan-College Station and St. Joseph Health – College Station Hospital (formerly College Station Medical Center). St. Joseph Health is home to a Level II Major Trauma Center, the highest in the region. St. Joseph Health is an academic and clinical partner of Texas A&M Health Science Center. Together, the St. Joseph and Texas A&M Health Network includes over 100 employed primary care physicians, specialists and advanced practice clinicians. As an active member of the Brazos Valley, St. Joseph Health is a leader in providing compassionate care as well as addressing the overall health of the community. It is part of Catholic Health Initiatives which recently joined with Dignity Health to form CommonSpirit Health, a new nonprofit national health system committed to advancing the health of all people and dedicated to serving the common good. Learn more about St. Joseph Health at St-Joseph.org.