Blue Cross/Blue Shield terminates all Florida psychiatrists

October 27, 2011

In early August, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Florida sent letters to all of its Florida psychiatrists and other providers under the category of "mental health," advising them that they would be terminated without cause.

According the Florida Psychiatric Society website (www.floridapsych.org), existing contracts will end in the end of November.

BCBS has said that it is offering coverage through New Directions, which is a managed-care corporation in Kansas, in which Blue Cross/Blue Shield owns the majority of the stock.

This is a dramatic development that Blue Cross/Blue Shield has tried to keep quiet. It sent cancellation letters to providers but did not inform patients, and as such medical providers had to inform their patients of the bad news.