Blue Shield makes positive changes to reimbursement policy for physicians treating out-of-network exchange PPO patients October 20, 2014 General Blue Shield, Blue Shield of California, Claims, Covered California, EPO, Exchange, IFP, Mirror products, out of network claims, PPO, Reimbursement 0 Blue Shield of California recently announced a two-part reimbursement policy change for contracted providers that do not currently participate in the plan's Individual and Family Plan (IFP) PPO product, otherwise known as its exchange/mirror PPO product. Effective with September 14, 2014 dates of services, Blue Shield will implement changes to the out-of-network claims payment process and will now reimburse providers directly when PPO exchange/mirror product patients are seen out of network. Previously, Blue Shield issued payment directly to the patient. The notice also states that out-of-network physicians may continue bill patients for the balance of billed charges. Additionally, for Blue Shield contracted providers who see Blue Shield PPO exchange/mirror patients out of network, the plan will process payment based on the provider's PPO contracted amount. Please note out-of-network benefit rules will still be applied, meaning the patient will still have the same out-of-network cost sharing. Previously, Blue Shield processed out-of-network PPO claims based on the reimbursement rate for its IFP product, which is typically discounted from the PPO rate. The policy change does not affect services provided to patients with a Blue Shield IFP EPO plan, as there are no out-of-network benefits with an EPO product. Blue Shield reports the policy change is in response to provider feedback of difficulties collecting from exchange/mirror patients they have seen out-of-network. The policy change also brings its physician payment rules in line with Blue Shield's facility payment policy for PPO exchange/mirror patients who are seen out of network. CMA believes the policy change will be positive for physicians and commends Blue Shield for their responsiveness to provider concerns. To view the Blue Shield notice, click here. Physicians with questions about the policy can contact Blue Shield Provider Information & Enrollment at (800) 258-3091. OCMA members can contact Mitzi Young, OCMA Physician Advocate at (888) 236-0267 or myoung@cmanet.org. Comments are closed.