Governor Nathan Deal announced that a "handshake deal" between Blue Coss Blue Shield and Piedmont Health has been reached.
He tweeted just after 5PM on Tuesday that the deal "ensures no interruption of coverage for Georgians using Piedmont Healthcare as a provider during the contract dispute."
Deal said a formal announcement from both parties is forthcoming and did not go into detail about what customers can expect.
On Monday, Deal put additional pressure on the statewide insurance company and the owner of several hospitals as negotiations continued to stall.
In a tweet posted around 9:30 a.m., Governor Nathan Deal gave Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia and Piedmont Healthcare a deadline before the state would begin getting involved.
"I asked @AnthemInc and @PiedmontHealth to resolve their contract dispute by COB tomorrow or the state will be forced to initiate executive action," he posted.
The strongly worded message came after Deal's announcement that he would be having a meeting with both companies on Monday to get updates on their negotiations.
He and others have been extremely critical of both companies since contract negotiations fell through in early April affecting an estimated half million customers.
In a statement to 11Alive, Piedmont Healthcare's Chief Consumer Officer said they were "pleased" over the new agreement.
The three-year contract ensures patients who have Blue Cross insurance can continue to see their Piedmont doctors and visit Piedmont hospitals without incurring higher out-of-pocket costs. Preserving the relationship between the patient and their preferred healthcare provider has been our number one goal during this entire negotiation.
The agreement extends the terms of the previous contract to May 31, ensuring that patients who have been seen since April 1 will be treated as “in-network.” The new agreement begins June 1, 2018.
We sincerely appreciate Governor Deal’s assistance in helping bring the parties together and creating a higher sense of urgency toward resolution.
We know this has been difficult for our patients, and we are sorry for that. We did everything in our power to avoid a disruption in care and understand the value of their trust.
