Atrium Health Statement on the North Carolina State Health Plan’s Decision to Create Preferred and Non-Preferred Categories
We are deeply concerned by the North Carolina State Health Plan’s recent decision regarding the tiered provider network — a decision that could leave more than 130,000 North Carolina state employees facing substantially higher costs if they wish to continue receiving care from the physicians, hospitals and care teams they know and trust at Atrium Health. These dedicated public servants and their families deserve the confidence to know that decisions affecting their healthcare are being made through a transparent process and with patients' interests at the center, and Atrium Health remains committed to being part of the solution.
This issue is not about one health system. It is about the teachers, law enforcement officers, firefighters, retirees and their families who depend on us for their care. Many now face the prospect of paying significantly more to maintain the freedom to choose the providers who know their health history, understand their care needs and, in some cases, have cared for them and their families for years.
It is also important to clarify that Atrium Health did not decline participation in the tiered provider network arrangement and was never engaged to compete for the full scope of services included in the program. In fact, we first learned of these designations through media reports. Any program that places substantial financial pressure on patients to change providers should be accompanied by a transparent assessment of the methodology, assumptions, quality measures, access implications and anticipated patient impact.
We have shared our concerns directly with the State Treasurer and have requested a meeting with State Health Plan leadership. Given the significance of this decision for patients and families across North Carolina, we believe a more transparent and collaborative process is warranted and remain willing to engage in good-faith discussions that support the long-term sustainability of the Plan while preserving affordability, access and meaningful patient choice.
About Atrium Health
Atrium Health is advancing clinical care and research across the communities it serves by redefining care for all. The care network is anchored by Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center, an academic medical center in Charlotte that includes Levine Children’s Hospital, Levine Cancer Institute and Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute, along with 11 hospitals, more than 900 care locations and over 1,400 physicians serving communities across the greater Charlotte region. It is part of Charlotte, North Carolina-based Advocate Health, the third-largest nonprofit, integrated health system in the United States. Advocate Health is a preeminent academic health system at the forefront of clinical excellence, innovation and research, with Wake Forest University School of Medicine serving as its academic core. Nationally recognized for expertise in heart and vascular, neurosciences, oncology, pediatrics and rehabilitation, Advocate Health is also a pioneer in the delivery of virtual health care. It’s accelerating discovery by making research participation part of the standard-of-care through its one-of-a-kind National Center for Clinical Trials. Advocate Health has one of the nation’s largest graduate medical education programs, with an experiential learning focus and specialized residencies to help protect the long-term sustainability of rural health care in America. Each campus of the school of medicine has an affiliated life-sciences focused innovation district: The Pearl, in Charlotte, and Innovation Quarter, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. With more than 165,000 teammates serving patients at 69 hospitals and over 1,000 care locations across eight states, Advocate Health reinvests over $6 billion each year to improve community health, making it one of the nation’s largest providers of community benefit.
About Advocate Health
Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Advocate Health is the third-largest nonprofit, integrated health system in the United States. A preeminent academic health system at the forefront of clinical excellence, innovation and research, it delivers care under the names Advocate Health Care in Illinois; Atrium Health in the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama; and Aurora Health Care in Wisconsin and Michigan, and Wake Forest University School of Medicine is its academic core. Nationally recognized for expertise in heart and vascular, neurosciences, oncology, pediatrics and rehabilitation, Advocate Health is also a pioneer in the delivery of virtual health care. It is accelerating discovery by making research participation part of the standard-of-care through its one-of-a-kind National Center for Clinical Trials, plus two affiliated life-sciences-focused innovation districts and one of the nation’s largest graduate medical education programs. With more than 165,000 teammates serving patients at 69 hospitals and over 1,000 care locations across eight states, Advocate Health reinvests over $6 billion each year to improve community health, making it one of the nation’s largest providers of community benefit.
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