SURS TRAIL Members Not Affected: HSHS Medical Group, St. John's Hospital set to leave Aetna network by July 1

On June 3rd, SUAA sent out an email, in response to concerns from our members in Illinois and Wisconsin, about the HSHS Medical Group and St. John's Hospital in Springfield being set to leave the Aetna network by July 1 should negotiations between Aetna and the respective healthcare providers fall through. That June 3rd email can be read by CLICKING HERE.

Our contact with CMS got back to SUAA today with good news:

"As far as the TRAIL members, they will not be impacted as our TRAIL MAPD plan does not require that they use an in-network provider with Aetna.  Our understanding is that HSHS will continue to bill on behalf of our TRAIL members."

For our members on the state's Medicare Advantage plan (TRAIL), you can continue to receive healthcare from HSHS and St. John's (which is part of the HSHS Medical Group) irrespective of the outcome of the current contract negotiations between Aetna and HSHS.

We want to thank our members for expressing their concerns and we want to thank CMS for providing us with timely information on this situation.

Within the June 3rd email, we also encouraged members to share with us their experience so far with Aetna. We received an outpouring of responses and, although we may not be able to respond directly to all of them, we appreciate hearing from our members as these personal stories resonate with legislators and other policymakers. Please continue to inform us of any problems or concerns you may encounter with your state health insurance.

A common theme throughout our members' responses, whether they've had good experiences with Aetna or not, is the desire for the state to provide more health insurance options for retirees and state employees. SUAA agrees with this position and will explore all legislative options to pursue more health insurance options not just for our members, but for the 220,000+ individuals within the SURS pension system as well.

Thank you for reading and have a wonderful Wednesday,