MILWAUKEE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Thanks to a new partnership between Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield and Ascension Wisconsin, Southeast Wisconsin consumers shopping for 2021 health insurance plans this fall will find several new choices at Healthcare.gov. Ascension Wisconsin and Anthem announced today that they are teaming up to offer ACA health plans in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, Kenosha, Ozaukee and Washington counties. The Anthem plans will feature Ascension Wisconsin’s 24 hospital campuses, 110 care locations, and more than 1,300 physicians. The plans will also include Children’s Wisconsin for pediatric care.
“Ascension Wisconsin and Anthem are both deeply committed to Wisconsin communities and we share a goal of assuring all Wisconsinites enjoy affordable access to quality healthcare,” said Paul Nobile, president of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Wisconsin. “Especially now, in the wake of COVID-19, people need highly coordinated, personalized healthcare. That’s what this partnership is designed to offer.”
The open enrollment period for the health exchange begins on November 1 and ends December 15.
“Ascension Wisconsin is pleased to be Anthem’s primary and specialty care partner for this new health insurance exchange offering,” stated Bernie Sherry, Senior Vice President, Ascension and Ministry Market Executive, Ascension Wisconsin. “We know that today’s consumers want quality, access and choice. That’s what this partnership delivers. Whether in person at our hospitals and clinics or through virtual visits, our commitment is to provide value to our patients by delivering quality care, in the right place at the right time for the communities we are privileged to serve.”
Both organizations have been taking strong actions to support Wisconsin communities in response to COVID-19. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s parent company, Anthem Inc., has committed $2.5 billion to support members, employers, care providers and charitable organizations through the pandemic and its aftermath, including nearly $1 million to Wisconsin nonprofits alone. Anthem’s other actions include:
- Waived cost-sharing for COVID-19 treatment through December 31, 2020.
- Increased access to virtual care and waived cost-sharing for telehealth and phone visits, including those for mental health.
- Provided a one-month premium credit to members enrolled in select individual plans and fully insured employer group customers; provided a one-month 50 percent premium credit to individuals in standalone and group dental plans.
- Offered enhanced flexibility with regard to premium payments to eligible employer groups.
- Deployed C19 Explorer, a digital tool that aggregates real-time COVID-19 data to present trends and predictions for communities across the nation to assess readiness to reopen, plan next steps, and respond to potential changes. Also deployed C19 Navigator, a dashboard solution designed for Anthem employer customers to help inform workplace decisions and resource planning with employee-level data.
Ascension Wisconsin quickly pivoted to provide care in new and innovative ways during the pandemic. Highlights include:
- VIRTUAL CARE: In the first four weeks of the pandemic, Ascension Wisconsin trained more than 400 providers on a new virtual care platform who saw more than 29,000 patients. Today there are more than 1,000 Ascension Wisconsin clinicians providing virtual care, who provided 130,000 virtual visits from March 1 - July 1.
- DRIVE-THRU TESTING: Ascension Medical Group Wisconsin opened its first COVID-19 mobile testing sites in March, and quickly expanded to more than 20 mobile testing sites across the state.
- RESPIRATORY CARE SITES: Ascension Medical Group Wisconsin launched Respiratory Care Sites across the state dedicated to care for COVID-19 suspected or confirmed patients, to offer patients with acute respiratory illnesses a controlled and safe care management environment separate from general patient populations during the pandemic. This program treats those who need immediate care but are not critically ill and need to be in the ED.
- HOME MONITORING PROGRAM: This program was created to safely and compassionately care for COVID-19 patients outside the hospital, thereby reserving hospital resources for the most critical COVID-19 cases. The program connects at-risk patients with known or suspected COVID-19 and pre-existing conditions like heart disease, high blood pressure, chronic respiratory disease or diabetes to 24/7 At Home Monitoring. As of September 9, nearly 500 patients are served by this program.
About Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Wisconsin
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is the trade name of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wisconsin (BCBSWI), Compcare Health Services Insurance Corporation (Compcare) and Wisconsin Collaborative Insurance Company (WCIC). BCBSWI underwrites or administers PPO and indemnity policies and underwrites the out of network benefits in POS policies offered by Compcare or WCIC; Compcare underwrites or administers HMO or POS policies; WCIC underwrites or administers Well Priority HMO or POS policies. Independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Anthem is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. Additional information about Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Wisconsin is available at www.anthem.com. Also, follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/anthemBCBS or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AnthemBlueCrossBlueShield.