RALEIGH – Atrium Health and North Carolina’s State Health Plan have signed a new agreement that will put all remaining Atrium hospitals and physicians in the plan’s Access tier for 2027.
The multi-year contract was announced Tuesday, Oct. 27, as members continued choosing coverage for next year. Open enrollment ends Nov. 6. The plan serves about 750,000 members, including state employees and retirees.
Treasurer Brad Briner announced the deal at Tuesday’s State Health Plan Board of Trustees meeting, WUNC’s NC Newsroom reported. Briner chairs the board, which oversees the publicly funded health benefit program.
Under the agreement, all currently existing Atrium hospitals and specialty care services will receive in-network Access-tier coverage, the Treasurer’s Office said. The announcement expands on a limited September agreement covering some Atrium facilities; it is not simply a repeat of that earlier deal.
WUNC reported that the new arrangement effectively maintains 2026 prices for members receiving Atrium care. Briner told the board that the plan now has agreements with all four of the state’s largest health systems. Those agreements help define the provider network members are considering for 2027.
The agreement also changes the course of a dispute over Atrium’s proposed Affordability Protection Program. The organizations said Atrium will end that program when the agreement takes effect and that the State Health Plan’s legal complaint will be withdrawn. The announcement describes future steps; it does not establish that a court has already dismissed the case.
The parties had disagreed over how Atrium’s proposed patient savings would affect the health plan’s finances. WUNC reported that negotiations continued in recent days as members faced uncertainty about next year’s network.
The new contract gives members a clearer picture of Atrium’s place in the 2027 network before enrollment closes. Claims about lower costs for the plan and taxpayers come from the organizations’ announcement; the published release did not provide a detailed schedule of negotiated rates.
Sources
- North Carolina Department of State Treasurer, Oct. 27 contract announcement
- WUNC / NC Newsroom, Adam Wagner, Oct. 27, 2026
Photo Credit: North Carolina Department of State Treasurer official portrait of Brad Briner, supplied for media use. Image cropped and resized. Portrait is contextual, not a photograph of the contract announcement.
Editor’s Note: This article was drafted with the assistance of artificial intelligence and was reviewed and fact-checked by a member of the NC Political News editorial team before publication.