Patients enrolled in BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois Medicaid can access all OSF HealthCare hospitals and physicians as part of their insurance plan, effective Aug. 8.
The coverage applies across the state and includes access to OSF HealthCare Children's Hospital of Illinois in Peoria, the third-largest pediatric hospital in the state, according to the health system.
"We have the opportunity to impact 200,000 lives through this new partnership," Michael Wells, president of Peoria-based OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center and interim president of OSF Children's Hospital of Illinois, said in a news release. "As a destination center that provides the highest levels of pediatric and neonatal intensive care, it's critical that patients' insurance carriers support and ensure members' access."
OSF is a 15-hospital system operated by The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis. It is also in the process of acquiring and reopening St. Margaret's Health-Peru, which closed in January.