Qliance Nabs First Union Health Plan

Qliance Medical Management, the Seattle-based company that operates primary care clinics that don’t accept insurance payments, has been selected for a one-year pilot program to offer services to members of Washington state’s largest employee union. The agreement is with the South Health & Wellness Trust, which provides health benefits to 50,000 union members and their families in Washington state, including those represented by the United Food & Commercial Workers. Members of the trust who join the Qliance plan will pay $3 a week—$156 a year—to get unlimited access to Qliance primary care services, and will also get full wrap-around insurance coverage for specialists or emergency services that Qliance does not provide.

Author: Luke Timmerman

Luke is an award-winning journalist specializing in life sciences. He has served as national biotechnology editor for Xconomy and national biotechnology reporter for Bloomberg News. Luke got started covering life sciences at The Seattle Times, where he was the lead reporter on an investigation of doctors who leaked confidential information about clinical trials to investors. The story won the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award and several other national prizes. Luke holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and during the 2005-2006 academic year, he was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT.