Shock waves are rippling through health care circles in southeastern Michigan as the news that a contract dispute between University of Michigan Health and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan could bump roughly 300,000 patients out of network with Michigan Medicine providers, clinics, health centers and hospitals as soon as July 1.
Unless negotiations result in a new, five-year contract by June 30, hundreds of thousands of people could be hunting for new primary care physicians and specialists.
It has sparked questions about whether other metro Detroit hospital systems will have the capacity to absorb that influx of patients — many of whom have rare diseases, chronic and critical conditions — and what it might mean for wait times for new appointments and medical services in this corner of the Mitten, and more…