ESCONDIDO – Patients covered by Blue Cross of California will receive another three years of continuous service from the Palomar Pomerado Health district.
Yesterday, the public health district announced that it has reached a new contract with the health care provider after nine months of negotiations. The new agreement affects about 50,000 people, said Andy Hoang, a Palomar Pomerado Health spokesman.
Hoang said Palomar Pomerado Health worked hard to make sure that patients would be covered while reaching a fair deal for the district. The district's primary goal was to save patients from potential problems with access, he said.
If a new contract wasn't reached before the previous three-year contract had expired, patients would have needed to go elsewhere for nonemergency treatment, Hoang said.
In the past four years, Blue Cross of California's contract with Tri-City Medical Center has lapsed twice before new deals were reached.
“Terminating our contract was never an option for us,” Hoang said.
Financial terms of Palomar Pomerado Health's contract with Blue Cross won't be disclosed because of contractual agreements, Hoang said.
The 800-square-mile district in inland North County operates Palomar Medical Center in Escondido and Pomerado Hospital in Poway, and is planning satellite clinics in Ramona, Rancho Peñasquitos and Borrego Springs. It is governed by an elected seven-member board.
Linda Lou: (760) 737-7574; linda.lou@uniontrib.com
