Florida Blue and Baptist Health will receive a new contract before the deadline

(This story has been updated to add new information.)

Florida Blue and Baptist Health announced early Tuesday that they have reached a multi-year agreement that will keep Baptist Health patients covered by Florida Blue’s insurance network.

“We are pleased that our new agreement will limit disruption and bring peace of mind to many individuals and families in the Jacksonville community,” the joint statement said. “We look forward to fulfilling our shared commitment to delivering high-quality, affordable health care, as we have done together for more than half a century.”

Florida Blue and Baptist Health had a midnight deadline Monday to reach an agreement on a new health insurance contract.

Florida Blue posted on its Facebook page that it had also reached a multi-year agreement with Naples Comprehensive Health in southwest Florida during another negotiating session with a deadline of midnight Monday for a new contract.

Baptist Health hospitals in Duval and Nassau counties, Wolfson Children’s Hospital and Baptist Health physicians have been part of Florida Blue’s network for years, but would have left without a new contract. A move to out-of-network status would have increased what many Florida Blue members would pay for medical services to continue using Baptist Health services covered by the current contract.

Earlier Monday, Florida Blue said its goal remains “to reach an agreement that keeps Baptist in-network without any disruption to care for our members and that ensures health care remains as affordable as possible for Northeast Florida.”

Baptist Health said it was “actively involved” in negotiations with Florida Blue.

“We believe a fair agreement is possible to ensure our patients continue to have uninterrupted access to the high-quality care they deserve,” Baptist said Monday afternoon.

Florida Blue has said that about 34,000 of its members have gone to Baptist Health for services in the past six months and that about 600,000 members in Northeast Florida would not be able to use Baptist Health at in-network rates for medical services without a new contract.

The negotiations centered on how much Florida Blue Baptist Health will reimburse for health care services. Baptist Health says it has been underpaid for years compared to what Florida Blue reimburses comparable health care systems in Tampa and Orlando.

“Our future is at stake,” Baptist Health CEO Michael Mayo said in a videotaped statement Monday. “This is not a game for us. It’s time for Florida Blue to stop shortchanging Jacksonville and put our community first.”

Florida Blue said Baptist Health is seeking an excessive fee increase that would drive up health care costs for Northeast Florida residents already worried about how to pay for it.

Darnell Smith, president of Florida Blue’s North Florida Market, said this weekend that the insurer has proposed a contract “that would net Baptist Health hundreds of millions of dollars over the next few years, yet they continue to demand more.”

Florida Blue members who use Baptist Health, the region’s largest health care system, have watched the ongoing negotiations with trepidation because of the uncertainty it injects into their decision-making about where and how they will receive health care.

The resolution of the contentious talks, which began eight months ago, means that Baptist Health patients covered by Florida Blue will continue to pay the same in-network rates in their health care plans when they use Baptist hospitals and physicians.