UW Health and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Negotiations

This means patients can continue to receive in-network care at all UW Health locations, including UW Hospitals and Clinics, UW Medical Foundation, Madison Surgery Center, Generations Fertility Care, UW Health Rehabilitation Hospital, UW Health Care Direct and UnityPoint Health – Meriter, and applies to all Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Wisconsin Commercial, Medicaid and Medicare Advantage plans, through July 1.

What this means for patients

There are no changes to your coverage at this time. Patients can continue to see UW Health providers and receive services through July 1 with current Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Wisconsin benefits.

This extension gives both parties more time to work towards a new long-term agreement. The goal remains to ensure patients have continued access to trusted UW Health providers and market-leading care.

Next steps

Both UW Health and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Wisconsin are committed to reaching a multi-year agreement. We will continue to provide updates as negotiations progress.

Questions? 

Anthem members may contact Anthem’s Member Service Center through the Sydney Health app or by calling the number on their ID card.  

Out-of-state Blue Cross Blue Shield plan members accessing care in Wisconsin through the Blue Card program should contact their plan. 

 

Publicly available information shows that Anthem is reimbursing peer health systems at much higher rates than they provide for UW Health and is unwilling to negotiate a fair increase in our rates. Additionally, Anthem has demanded the right to unilaterally change payments terms without renegotiation of the contract, which creates uncertainty for patients and could put patient care at risk. We cannot agree to a contract that is not fair to our patients and does not value the work of our care teams.

UW Health and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield in Wisconsin have agreed to extend UW Health participation in Anthem’s care provider network until July 1, as the two organizations continue negotiations toward a new long-term contract.

Yes, if you are on a non-Wisconsin BCBS plan (e.g., Blue Cross of Idaho, BCBS of Massachusetts, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois) and are using the Blue Card program to access Anthem BCBS Wisconsin network providers at UW Health. This is the most common way for out-of-state BCBS plan members to access our services. It is always best to pose questions regarding your coverage and provider network to your health insurance plan, as they are the ultimate source of this information.

Yes. UW Health and its affiliates are represented under this agreement, including:

  • UW Hospitals and Clinics

  • UW Medical Foundation

  • Madison Surgery Center

  • Generations Fertility Care

  • Wisconsin Sleep

  • UnityPoint Health – Meriter

  • UW Rehabilitation Hospital

  • UW Health Care Direct

UW Health in northern Illinois is not included in this agreement, however it may impact Blue Card members who will no longer be referred to Madison.

This contract includes commercial, Medicaid and Medicare Advantage products. It does not include Medicare Supplement products.

Anthem members may contact Anthem’s Member Service Center through the Sydney Health app or by calling the number on their ID card.

Out-of-state Blue Cross Blue Shield plan members accessing care in Wisconsin through the Blue Card program should contact their plan.