PROVIDENCE – Care New England Health System will remain a member of the Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island provider network until 2013, the two parties said in announcing they have wrapped up their long-running contract negotiations.

The new five-year agreement replaces the BCBSRI-Care NE contract that originally was slated to expire at year’s end and recently was extended through the first quarter of 2009 to ensure continuity of care. (READ MORE) It applies not only to CareNE’s three hospitals – Butler, Kent and Women & Infants – but also to the nonprofit health care network’s home-care service, VNA of Care New England.

“These are challenging times for all parties concerned,” James E. Purcell, president and CEO of BSBSRI, said in a statement late yesterday. “That being said, we are very pleased that we have reached this new agreement. It’s an agreement that will mutually benefit BCBSRI members and the CNE system for the long term.”

“BSBSRI has vigorously represented its ratepayers in these negotiations,” CareNE President and CEO John J. Hynes said of the nonprofit health insurer. (Reimbursement rates had been a key issue in the standoff between the two nonprofits.) “Yet [it] has also acknowledged the needs of our hospitals,” he said.

“This new agreement represents a balanced result, which will benefit the health care system of Rhode Island,” Hynes added.

The specific terms of the new contract will not be disclosed, the two organizations said in their joint announcement.

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island, based in Providence, covers more than 670,000 members. BCBSRI is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Additional information is available at www.bcbsri.com.

Care New England Health System is a nonprofit health care network. Founded in 1996 by Butler Hospital, Kent Hospital and Women & Infants Hospital, it has grown to include Care New England Home Health and the Care New England Wellness Center. To learn more, visit www.CareNewEngland.org.