‘Come to an agreement:’ Jacksonville first responders stuck in between Florida Blue, Baptist Health

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — UPDATE, 9/30/24, 7:06 p.m.: Action News Jax’s Ben Becker has learned from sources that Florida Blue and Baptist Health have reached an agreement in principle.

Original story below:

Negotiations between Florida Blue and Baptist Health are in a deadlock as the current contract expires at midnight on Tuesday.

Both parties were at the negotiating table on Monday ahead of the deadline.

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In a statement, Baptist Health said, “With time still on the clock, Baptist Health remains actively engaged in good-faith negotiations with Florida Blue. Our current contract extends through midnight tonight. We believe a fair agreement is possible to ensure our patients retain uninterrupted access to the high-quality care they deserve.”

Florida Blue said, “Florida Blue continues to negotiate in good faith today, ahead of the deadline at 11:59pm ... Florida Blue’s goal remains to reach an agreement that keeps Baptist in network without any disruption in care for our members, and that ensures health care remains as affordable as possible for Northeast Florida.”

With time running out, patients, including most of Jacksonville’s first responders, are stuck in the middle.

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“We hope they don’t turn their backs on us,” Randy Wyse, the executive director of the Jacksonville Police Officers and Firefighters Health Insurance Trust, said. “We really stressed to both sides — come to an agreement so we don’t put our people responding to the public under more stress than they’re already under.”

More than 2,000 Jacksonville officers and firefighters are members of Florida Blue who go to Baptist Health. The City of Jacksonville is the largest local employer with more than 10,000 employees that are enrolled with Florida Blue.

Many could be searching for new care as the contract between both organizations has almost expired.

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If a deal isn’t reached by midnight, some patients may still be covered under Continuity of Care coverage. That means in-network rates would continue for up to six months for those already seeing a Baptist doctor for serious conditions or if you’re pregnant.

The deadlock is over how much Florida Blue reimburses Baptist and its physicians. The health system says it’s asking for rate increases that would make up for the rapid growth of medical inflation which it claims has not been paid for years.

Florida Blue said the deal is unreasonable and would add more than $1 billion in new expenses over the next five years. The insurance company said its counter offer gives hundreds of millions over the next several years instead.

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