Negotiations with Medicare, Medicaid and other insurance providers are progressing, the chief executive officer for Western Medical Associates told a group of senior citizens and their families Wednesday.

The primary care office will not drop Medicare patients, CEO Richard Blauvelt said during a meeting at Garden Square Assisted Living Center.

Because Medicare is managed by the federal government, there was little the practice could do to change reimbursements, Blauvelt said in an interview Thursday.

"It would be real hard to go after the carrier," he said.

Blauvelt said the office might change it's Medicare billing process to recoup more reimbursement or it might just keep things as is.

He urged Medicare and other patients to "rally" against low reimbursement rates by writing letters to Wyoming's congressional delegation and creating advocacy groups.

Two weeks ago, Western Medical Associates - six physicians, two physician assistants and a nurse practitioner - said it would opt out of Medicare on Sept. 1, along with Tricare for veterans and private insurer Blue Cross/Blue Shield because of what Blauvelt described as low reimbursement rates. The office said it would stop seeing Medicaid patients Oct. 1.

The decision would have affected more than 15,000 patients.

However, Blauvelt said in a previous interview Western Medical would negotiate with the providers and state and federal officials to allow the doctors to continue seeing the affected patients and allow Western Medical to receive a fair reimbursement.

"Negotiations have been going good," Blauvelt said. "We are still in negotiations with Medicaid."

Medicaid is the state and federal insurance program for low-income recipients. Blauvelt met with representatives from the governor's office and the Wyoming Department of Health last week to discuss Medicaid reimbursement.

"We can't do a lot with the fees because they are federally locked," he told the Garden Square audience. But, he said, there are some state programs the office can begin to use to increase its reimbursements, including a $4 million pool for recruiting physicians.

"We're going to be tapping into that stuff," Blauvelt said at the meeting. "We're probably going to stay with Medicaid."

Blauvelt met with senior citizens and their family members to discuss the possible policy changes and answer questions about their concerns. He has scheduled several other meetings in Casper.

Blauvelt also said the office met with representatives from Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Wyoming and scheduled a second meeting.

"It's a private payer," Blauvelt said. "It shouldn't be a low payer."

Even if the facility can't come to an agreement with Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Blauvelt said Western Medical still might continue to accept the company's patients and instead change how it bills Blue Cross/Blue Shield.

He said Western Medical hasn't heard from Tricare officials.

"We've looked and Tricare is a small percentage of our practice," Blauvelt said. "We will take veterans and their families even if they don't come to the table. We'll do our patriotic duty."

Contact health reporter Allison Rupp at (307) 266-0534 or allison.rupp@trib.com.

NewsTracker

Last we knew: The largest family practice office in Wyoming announced it might stop seeing Medicaid, Medicare, Tricare and Blue Cross/Blue Shield patients starting this fall.

The latest: The CEO of Western Medical Associates said Wednesday that the facility will treat Medicare patients.

What's next: Negotiations are ongoing with the other providers, according to the CEO.