Oregon Health & Science University and Hillsboro Medical Center will stop being in-network hospitals for anyone enrolled in a Regence BlueCross BlueShield Medicare Advantage HMO or PPO plan starting January 1, 2027, even though Regence and OHSU settled their wider contract dispute five months earlier. The August 27 agreement kept OHSU in-network for Regence’s employer-sponsored and other commercial plans, but Medicare Advantage and individual plans were carved out of that deal. A transition period keeps current in-network care available through December 31, 2026.
A network change with no announced patient count: Regence’s Medicare Advantage exclusion of OHSU and Hillsboro takes effect after this fall’s enrollment window closes, and The 2027 Medicare Open Enrollment Decision Kit includes a provider call script for confirming a hospital’s status directly. Get a script for calling to confirm hospital network status →
A transition year built into the same agreement
OHSU’s own account of the negotiations states plainly that “beginning Jan. 1, 2027, Regence will not include OHSU and Hillsboro Medical Center as participating providers” in Regence Medicare Advantage HMO and PPO plans, along with Regence individual plans. That is a specific, dated exclusion affecting two named plan categories, not a threat still under negotiation for those plan types.
Members are not left without coverage in the interim. The same page says “all Regence members can continue their in-network care through Dec. 31, 2026, as part of an approved transition period,” meaning the change takes effect on a fixed date roughly fifteen months after the two organizations first reached their broader settlement, not immediately upon that settlement…