Blue Cross adds Albert Lea clinic, lobbied for by area seniors, to Medicare Advantage network

An Albert Lea clinic that residents spent years recruiting to the southern Minnesota town will be an in-network option next year for seniors covered by a popular Medicare Advantage health plan in the region.

The announcement Tuesday by Eagan-based Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota ends an insurance quagmire where seniors in the Albert Lea area faced a dilemma: stick with their Blue Cross health plan or jump to other Medicare insurers that provided in-network access to the new MercyOne clinic in town.

"It's a wonderful day for the seniors of Albert Lea and the surrounding area," Brad Arends, president of the Albert Lea Healthcare Coalition, said in a statement.

Arends' group provided some financial support to create the new clinic, which opened in summer 2021, and worked to recruit Iowa-based MercyOne as its operator after Mayo Clinic moved key health services out of town. But when the MercyOne facility opened, seniors were startled to learn they didn't have in-network access through one of the region's largest Medicare health plans.

In March, Blue Cross officials told the Star Tribune that the insurer had no plans to add MercyOne to its regional Medicare Advantage network. Any such change, the insurer said, would have to be approved by Mayo because a multi-year contract gave the Rochester-based clinic a financial responsibility for improving health outcomes and lowering costs across the region.

Blue Cross said Tuesday that Mayo agreed to this network expansion and there is no change to the current contract between the insurer and the health care system.

In a news release Monday, Blue Cross said MercyOne Albert Lea Family Medicine & Specialty Care will be in-network in 2023 for Medicare Advantage enrollees across an 11-county region in southern Minnesota.

"Blue Cross had been exploring this addition to our regional Medicare Advantage network for some time," said Eric Hoag, vice president for provider relations for the insurer, in a statement. "We know that MercyOne will be a welcome option for many of our members in and around the Albert Lea area."

The Albert Lea Healthcare Coalition, in its statement Tuesday, advised seniors interested in visiting health care providers at MercyOne in Albert Lea to check with their health insurance carrier to ensure in-network access.