A message from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts: 

UMass Memorial Health may leave our network

Your employees’ access to health care is our top priority, so we’re reaching out to share important information with you about our network.

UMass Memorial Health and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts are actively negotiating to establish contract renewal terms. Both organizations remain committed to swiftly reaching a mutually acceptable agreement. If we’re unable to reach an agreement, UMass Memorial Health’s hospitals and affiliated doctor’s offices will no longer be part of the Blue Cross network effective January 1, 2026. This change would not affect Medicare Advantage products, which will continue to include UMass Memorial Health in the network. In the event UMass Memorial Health elects to remain in our network, we’ll notify you immediately.

Why is UMass Memorial Health considering leaving the network?
While we remain in active contract negotiations, UMass Memorial Health will leave our network if we can’t reach agreement on terms. As a not-for-profit, our goal is to pay our clinical partners an appropriate rate, while ensuring we can continue providing access to high-quality care that’s as affordable as possible. While we value the care that UMass Memorial Health provides to our members, on behalf of our accounts, we can’t agree to a rate request that will make quality health care less affordable.

How we’re supporting your employees
We’re committed to supporting your impacted employees and ensuring they continue to have access to high-quality, affordable care.

To minimize disruption for our members in the case that UMass Memorial Health leaves our network, we’re implementing the following transition plan:

• Where possible, we’ve found new in-network primary care physicians (PCPs) for members with an HMO plan. These members will be notified through a mailed letter. Members may continue to see their current designated PCP for at least 30 days after the termination goes into effect. For that reason, the PCP designation won’t go into effect until the 30 days has expired. If the member is happy with the new PCP, they don’t need to take any action. Otherwise, they may choose a new PCP at any time.
• All other HMO members and members with a PPO plan will receive either an email or a letter, depending on their specified communication preferences.

Regulations require us to notify our members by November 1, 2025, of this situation. You can view the member communications here:

View the Member Communications >

We’ve also created a webpage to answer member questions at bcbsma.info/umass-memorial.

Questions?

If you have any questions, please contact your account executive.

Back