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The BlueCross and BlueShield logos hang on the company’s old building in downtown Chattanooga.DALTON, Ga. – Hospitals in Whitfield and Murray counties and a doctors’ group announced Friday they will begin accepting BlueCross BlueShield of Georgia insurance plans, a move county officials say will provide a better economic sell for companies looking to locate in the area.
Negotiations to add additional insurance groups as in-network providers in the counties have been under way since 2009.
The deal affects Hamilton Medical Center and Murray Medical Center. The change will go into effect Nov. 1.
Whitfield County Commission Chairman Mike Babb said officials first heard about the agreement between Hamilton Health Care System, Inc. and Physicians Health Services and BlueCross Thursday evening, and finals details were ironed out Friday.
Hamilton Health Care System, which includes both hospitals, and Physicians Health Services, which is centered in Whitfield, came under fire in 2009 when patients and business leaders complained that providers would accept only a single insurance plan, Alliant, offered by Health One Alliance, according to Times Free Press archives.