FamilyCare Medical Group to drop Excellus if agreement is not reached (2024)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — Patients are now being caught in the middle of another contract dispute. First, it was WellNow Urgent Care. Now, it’s FamilyCare Medical Group.

Patients say they received a letter from the practice recently, notifying them of their intent to drop Excellus BlueCross BlueShield if a mutual agreement is not reached by December 31, 2024.

“You’re caught in limbo between do you wait it out and see if they settle? Or do you go now to get another general practitioner and you lose basically your practice, and for me, it’s a GP and a dermatologist within the same office,” said Monica Polstra, a resident of Solvay.

Polstra says she has been a patient at FamilyCare Medical Group since she was a teenager and is worried an agreement won’t be reached.

“I don’t have high hopes. It’s very discouraging to think, ‘Ok, we lost our Urgent Care.’ BlueCross BlueShield is the one of the major providers. Most of the people I know are insured through them, so now we can’t go to Urgent Care locally because WellNow is in our area, and now, you’re telling us we can’t go to our GP, we can’t go to our dermatologist. And if we do start with somebody new, what’s to say they don’t have the same issue,” said Polstra.

In the letter sent to patients, the practice says their relationship with Excellus has issues that need to be resolved, blaming the provider for not living up to its commitment to support clinical programs, resulting in patient outcomes.

“We are trying to advocate for them. When patients don’t like all these prior authorizations that get turned down, when patients get denials for care, which we find happens quiet a bit with Excellus, and, in my experience, more than with other companies. This is what we’re trying to do. It’s the question of who do you want to direct your care. Do you want your physician or your nurse practitioner or any of the other practitioners taking care of you or the insurance company,” said Mitchell Brodey, president and CEO of FamilyCare Medical Group.

But many patients, like Elizabeth Patience of Syracuse, are panicking.

“My reaction was this is a crock. Same thing with what they did with WellNow Urgent Care with Blue Cross Blue Shield. To me it’s very disingenuous for FamilyCare Medical Group to put in a letter things that I know are not true and try to convince the public to switch to other insurance plans that may not cover their medicine,” said Patience.

Patience said she has been part of FamilyCare Medical Group for roughly 10 years and is worried about the impact this could have on her health care.

“I’m sitting here worried whether I am going to have breathing medication six months from now. It’s putting stress on me, and then, I have to be the rock for the family,” said Patience.

Patience said even a six-month notice is not enough time to find a new physician, especially with the ongoing shortage of healthcare workers.

“I just finally found a great lung doctor’s practice and this is also my primary care too,” said Patience.

But Brodey said they notified patients now, rather than giving them a 90-day notice. He adds these six months help them prepare.

“If we don’t get reasonable negations, they have the chance to try and find another physician if they really feel the need to do that,” said Brodey.

Excellus BlueCross BlueShield released the following statement below:

FamilyCare Medical Group (FCMG) has informed us that they will leave our provider network if a new contract isn’t mutually agreed upon by December 31, 2024. It’s important for Excellus BlueCross BlueShield members to know that at this time FCMG remains in our network and they may continue to access services from FCMG as they normally do. We continue to engage in contract discussions with FCMG and are confident we’ll reach an agreement.

Contract renewal discussions between insurers and providers are typical for this time of year. It’s unfortunate that FCMG chose to notify our members and create unnecessary worry when we still have more than five months to come to an agreement. This is part of a national trend as more providers use these types of negotiation tactics that can put members in the middle and cause confusion or anxiety.

For more than 23 years Excellus BCBS has been proud to have FCMG as a participating provider. Excellus BCBS has an extensive provider network that includes 98 percent of local providers, and we know our members value the care they receive at FCMG. We’re in active discussions with FCMG and hope to partner with them on a contract focused on access to high-quality care that’s as affordable as possible.

Excellus BlueCross BlueShield