Highmark Delaware
Bayhealth
ChristianaCare

Media Contacts
Anthony Matrisciano
Highmark
Anthony.Matrisciano@highmarkhealth.org
Hiran Ratnayake
ChristianaCare
HRatnayake@ChristianaCare.org
Danielle Hudson
Bayhealth
Danielle_Pro-Hudson@bayhealth.org

ChristianaCare, Bayhealth and Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware announce intention to offer Medicare Advantage products in 2022 through an innovative collaboration

Wilmington, Del. (July 20, 2021) - Delaware’s leading health organizations ChristianaCare, Bayhealth and Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware announced today their intention to collaborate on improving the quality of care and reducing costs for seniors in Delaware by offering a Medicare Advantage plan for 2022, pending Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approval.

This groundbreaking venture with Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware represents the first time that ChristianaCare and Bayhealth have collaborated with a health insurance company to offer Medicare Advantage to eligible Delawareans.

Pending regulatory approval, the new Medicare Advantage plan in Delaware will be available for enrollment this fall for coverage beginning Jan. 1, 2022.

“ChristianaCare and Bayhealth are prominent health care providers in the areas of care coordination and outcomes, and they have strong ties to their communities. This collaboration will help increase access to care, enhance the provider-patient experience, and make way for new solutions to improve health for all seniors,” said Alexis Miller, market president, Federal Markets, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware.

When eligible, Delaware seniors are encouraged to enroll in the Medicare program, the federal health insurance program for seniors. Traditional Medicare is made up of four separate programs: Medicare Part A covers hospital stays, follow-up nursing care after a hospital stay, hospice care and some in-home health care. Part B covers things like doctor visits, outpatient hospital services, ambulance services, mental health services, certain therapies, diagnostic services and preventive services. Part C is more commonly referred to as Medicare Advantage, and Part D covers prescriptions.

Medicare Advantage plans help eliminate some of the confusion of the different Medicare parts by consolidating coverage into one package. Medicare Advantage plans provide the same benefits as traditional Medicare such as hospitalizations, surgeries and drugs, but they also offer additional benefits like chiropractor visits, dental services and coverage for vision and hearing.

“Participation in a Medicare Advantage plan offers patients excellent care with affordable and predictable out-of-pocket costs, and enhances care coordination, preventive care and care for chronic conditions. ChristianaCare, Bayhealth and Highmark are working together to truly impact the health of Delaware seniors,” said Christine Donohue-Henry, M.D., ChristianaCare’s chief population health officer.

“We are working together with local health care partners to ensure access to efficient, affordable, and high-quality care for Delawareans, especially vulnerable populations like seniors. Serving individuals and the community is fundamental to our mission at Bayhealth,” added Gary Siegelman, M.D., Bayhealth’s senior vice president and chief medical officer. “We believe this collaboration is important, because it will support better coordination of care and increase our ability to help seniors manage their chronic conditions, so they can enjoy the important people and activities in their lives.”

This announcement follows a 10-year collaboration agreement signed by ChristianaCare and Highmark Health that is focused on affiliates of Highmark Health and ChristianaCare together innovating solutions to address current health care challenges and transform the whole health experience.

“Collaboration is at the heart of what we do,” said Nick Moriello, president of Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware. “We look forward to collaborating with our colleagues at ChristianaCare and Bayhealth to provide personalized care that supports and improves not just health, but quality of life.”

 

About Bayhealth

Bayhealth’s mission is to strengthen the health of our community, one life at a time. As central and southern Delaware’s largest healthcare system, Bayhealth is comprised of Bayhealth Hospital, Kent Campus and Bayhealth Hospital, Sussex Campus, the freestanding Emergency Department in Smyrna as well as numerous satellite facilities and employed physician practices encompassing a variety of specialties.

Bayhealth is a technologically advanced not-for-profit healthcare system with more than 4,000 employees and a medical staff of more than 400 physicians. Bayhealth is also an affiliate of Penn Medicine for Heart and Vascular, Cancer and Orthopaedics.

In Fiscal Year 2020, Bayhealth recorded 96,820 emergency department visits, 18,574 patients admitted to beds, 2,241 births, and provided $68.16 million in unreimbursed care to patients.

About ChristianaCare

Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, ChristianaCare is one of the country’s most dynamic health care organizations, centered on improving health outcomes, making high-quality care more accessible and lowering health care costs. ChristianaCare includes an extensive network of primary care and outpatient services, home health care, urgent care centers, three hospitals (1,299 beds), a freestanding emergency department, a Level I trauma center and a Level III neonatal intensive care unit, a comprehensive stroke center and regional centers of excellence in heart and vascular care, cancer care and women’s health. It also includes the pioneering Gene Editing Institute.

ChristianaCare is nationally recognized as a great place to work, rated by Forbes as the 5th best health system to work for in the United States and by IDG Computerworld as one of the nation’s Best Places to Work in IT. ChristianaCare is rated by HealthGrades as one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals and continually ranked among the nation’s best by U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek and other national quality ratings. ChristianaCare is a nonprofit teaching health system with more than 260 residents and fellows. With its groundbreaking Center for Virtual Health and a focus on population health and value-based care, ChristianaCare is shaping the future of health care.

About Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware

Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware serves approximately 441,000 members through the company’s health care benefits business. It is an influential company in the market generating an economic impact of $135 million and supporting more than 1,000 direct and indirect jobs across the state. Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies. For more information, visit www.highmarkbcbsde.com.

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