We Are In-Network!
Beginning this fall, more than 21,000 people across Michiana covered by Cigna and Sagamore health plans will have affordable access to high-quality health care services at Memorial Hospital and Beacon Medical Group. These local residents with Cigna and Sagamore are able to use the world-class services of Memorial Hospital as of Oct. 1 and Beacon Medical Group beginning Nov. 1. Sagamore health plan members are covered at Beacon Health Ventures starting Oct. 1.
“This has been a long time coming,” says Diane Maas, Beacon Vice President of Managed Care & Business Development, who negotiated the contract with Cigna and Sagamore. “Elkhart General is already under contract with Cigna and Sagamore, so it only makes sense for Memorial and Beacon Medical Group to align the same way. We are one system, and we need to be part of the same contracts.”
It has been the case for more than a decade that Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center was the in-network provider for Cigna and Sagamore members in St. Joseph County. Unfortunately, many people who preferred Memorial and Beacon Medical Group services over the years could not pay the higher cost because they were out-of-network. So now local residents with Cigna and Sagamore will be able to also access the affordable services at Memorial Hospital and Beacon Medical Group.
The news of the contract with Cigna and Sagamore brought cheers by many in our health system, including Patty De Stefano, MSN, RNC, Director of the Childbirth Unit and Mother Baby Unit, and Kate Dutkiewicz, M.D., Medical Director of the Pediatric Hospitalist Program. In fact, this new contract could have the most immediate impact on childbirth and pediatric services.
“Pediatric patients who are members of these plans will now have access to specialized care provided by Memorial Children’s Hospital, reducing the need to travel to hospitals as far away as Indianapolis,” says Dr. Dutkiewicz.
“As the only Baby-Friendly hospital in our county, known for our ability to care for the high-risk population,” says Patty, “we look forward to caring for the mothers and families who choose our hospital.”
