LabCorp gets Empire national contract

By LORRAINE SIMPKINS
Effective January 1 of this year, Quest Diagnostics ceased to be an Empire Plan participating provider of lab services and LabCorp took over as the only national provider of lab services participating in the Empire Plan.

However, in addition to LabCorp, other regional and local lab providers do continue to participate in the Empire Plan.

Last December, the Empire Plan administrator — United HealthCare (UHC) — sent letters to all Empire Plan enrollees who had received lab services from Quest during the past 12 months notifying them of the coming change, and providing them with answers to questions they might have, along with a list of LabCorp-affiliated drawing stations.

Next, UHC notified the remaining Empire Plan enrollees and the plan’s participating physicians of the change. UHC encouraged the physicians who were using Quest to switch to LabCorp or one of the other participating providers of lab services.

Both UHC and LabCorp are working to ensure Empire Plan enrollees continue to have reasonable access to participating lab services. UHC continues to add regional and local labs as par providers, particularly in areas where Quest had provided a higher volume of lab services such as New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. LabCorp is also working to increase its presence in these markets.

For the most current list of Empire Plan par providers of lab services, go online to www.cs.state.ny.us/ebd. Or, from the NYSHIP online screen, click on “Find a Provider,” scroll down to “United HealthCare” and select, “Laboratories (Independent).”

Check by phone, by calling the Empire Plan at 1-877-769-7447; select UHC and then “Plan Benefits.”

If you have questions, call UHC. If you need more help after speaking to a UHC representative, call PEF at 1-800-342-4306, ext. 283.

The Communicator Feb. 2007

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