CHOP and Keystone First Reach Agreement Following Months of Negotiations

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and Keystone First, the largest Medicaid plan in Southeastern Pennsylvania, have reached an agreement to continue their contract following months of negotiations. This news comes as a relief for the hundreds of thousands of families with children enrolled in Keystone First (or its partner plan, AmeriHealth Caritas) and who receive treatment at CHOP.

The parties' previous contract was set to end on June 30th of this year. In March, CHOP began notifying families that if they could not reach a new deal with the health insurer, their patients' services would no longer be considered in-network. In reality, a contract break would have meant that families needing to choose between switching their child(ren) to a different Medicaid plan in order to continue getting care at CHOP, or finding new doctors and other providers outside of the CHOP network. Either option would have been an extreme burden on these families and risked gaps in vital health care for children. Amid the panic that ensued following CHOP's announcement in March, families created a change.org petition urging the parties to reach an agreement. The petition received over 2,800 signatures. Elected officials also weighed in, urging a continued contract between the parties and warning of the risks of this continued uncertainty and the upheaval a break would cause for families who are already balancing so much.

The new contract has been announced as a multi-year agreement, although the specific duration remains unknown at this time. PHLP is pleased that both CHOP and Keystone First have prioritized the needs of their patients by reaching this agreement, which enables CHOP providers to continue caring for patients in Keystone First and AmeriHealth Caritas Medicaid plans.