HCA breaks off negotiations with Blue Cross:Deal between health care giants appears a dead issue
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Blue Cross officials quickly followed suit, saying they were blind-sided by HCA’s announcement, leaving the contract dispute between the two companies in limbo once again, something that doesn’t bode well for local Blue Cross members.
Both companies agreed late last month to a mediator, as was suggested by state Sen. Jerry Cooper. Knoxville attorney Howard Vogel, who specializes in mediation, was chosen to aid the companies, but even with the help of the mutually agreed upon mediator the two sides were unable to reach an agreement that would keep HCA hospitals in Tennessee in the Blue Cross network.
HCA made its announcement after Blue Cross turned down a last-ditch compromise offer in a letter dated April 10 from HCA president Paul Rutledge to Blue Cross CEO Vicky Gregg giving Blue Cross a deadline of noon Friday to respond.
As early as a week and a half ago, Blue Cross spokesman Bill Steverson had indicated Blue Cross still wanted to do business with HCA.
“We want HCA in our system,” Steverson had previously said. “We think that’s best for our members.”
However, after HCA’s announcement it was withdrawing from the negotiations as of Friday, Steverson said Blue Cross sees no purpose in continuing negotiations.
“We will still entertain the possibility of binding arbitration,” he said, “but after what has happened over the past few days I don’t know if there’s any sense at all for us trying to pursue something with HCA.”
Steverson says as far as he can tell, the companies have basically parted ways.
After learning of the breakdown Friday, River Park CEO Steve Otto said HCA recognizes the problems this development presents for local Blue Cross members.
“Obviously, we’re concerned about, and have been concerned about, the effect it has on everyone in Warren County that has Blue Cross,” he said. “The physicians who treat patients with Blue Cross, they’ve been hurt pretty dramatically as well, so we’re concerned about that.”
Steverson says Blue Cross is also concerned with the situation in Warren County.
“What we’re really concerned about is the four sole-provider communities,” he said.
These are the communities in Tennessee where an HCA hospital is the only facility within 30 miles of that community. Currently the four communities affected are Springfield, Dickson, Jasper and McMinnville, although Steverson says Blue Cross is trying to work out something in Springfield since HCA only manages that hospital and doesn’t actually own it.
Steverson says Blue Cross has made efforts to break these sole-provider communities out and even provide separate rate structures in order to keep them in network, something he says HCA has consistently refused to do.
HCA, on the other hand, has said from the beginning it doesn’t want to treat any of their facilities differently, whether urban or rural, noting it would not be fair to require patients who are in close proximity to an HCA facility in an urban area to travel to another part of the city to receive medical care, and maintain they want a contract that will keep all their facilities in Tennessee in the Blue Cross network.
Spokesmen for both companies say their customers are their most pressing concern in all of this, but as the contract dispute between HCA and Blue Cross remains unresolved after more than three months of negotiations, it becomes a more and more worrisome situation for local residents.
Otto says River Park will continue to waive out-of-network penalties for local Blue Cross members in April, but after that, Otto admitted things are pretty much up in the air as to how Blue Cross members will be handled.
If a contract agreement is not reached, local Blue Cross members will eventually have to pay out-of-network prices at River Park.