Christie Clinic and PersonalCare Reach Limited Contract Agreement

Champaign-based Christie Clinic and health insurance provider PersonalCare have agreed to a contract that ends a dispute that went public six weeks ago. But the agreement still requires most customers to find another insurer --- or other doctors --- beginning Jan. 1, 2012.

The new contract will cover Christie patients covered by PersonalCare's Medicare Advantage plan, and its self-funded payor insurance products. But it will not cover any plans for state employees or retirees. And the new contract leaves out any of PersonalCare's HMO, Preferred Provider or Point-of-Sale plans for other Christie patients.

The new contract comes after a dispute in which PersonalCare told Christie Clinic in September it was ending its contract with the medical clinic. The health insurer later said the move was only a step towards new contract negotiations. But Christie officials didn't see it that way, and announced their contract with PersonalCare was over, for most purposes. The dispute added to the confusion already caused by the state's reshuffling of state employee health care packages.