Blue Cross doesn’t think HCA is ‘compassionate’
In a recent editorial, the Southern Standard praised River Park Hospital for being a “hero” in announcing it would not charge out-of-network fees to Blue Cross members who use that hospital. The editorial further praised River Park’s owner, HCA, for showing “its compassionate side” in not collecting those higher fees.
While we applaud the action by River Park Hospital, we have concerns about HCA’s motives. Last year, when we began negotiating with HCA for a new contract for its 14 Tennessee hospitals, we asked HCA to allow us to negotiate separately with River Park Hospital. HCA declined, and in essence, has used Blue Cross members in Warren County as leverage in its attempts to get us to agree to much higher rates for its urban hospitals in Nashville and Chattanooga. That doesn’t feel very compassionate to us.
Throughout several months of negotiations, HCA insisted on rates and contract language that would have significantly increased insurance premiums for Blue Cross members in Warren County and across the state. That doesn’t feel very compassionate to us.
During recent mediation, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee learned HCA had taken the 13 percent increase in reimbursement that we granted HCA for 2002 and turned it into a 31 percent increase in revenue per admission. These numbers proved our point: Hospital costs are growing at a rate our members cannot afford – especially at HCA hospitals. That doesn’t feel very compassionate to us.
The real motivation behind HCA’s recent offer to waive out-of-network charges is to fill its empty hospital beds with paying customers. If HCA had simply accepted the rate increase we offered them in December, everyone would have been better served. HCA would not have spent millions on advertising and lobbying expenses trying to discredit our company for HCA’s financial gain.
Also, we would ask, if HCA is as compassionate as your editorial suggested, why does River Park Hospital not treat TennCare patients served by TennCare select, the back-up plan serving Tennessee’s neediest citizens?
We recognize how important River Park Hospital is to the citizens of Warren County. If HCA would uncouple River Park from its urban hospital negotiations, we could solve this problem immediately. In the meantime, HCA is putting profits ahead of patients in Warren County. That doesn’t feel very compassionate to us.
(Ron Harr is senior vice president of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee. He can be reached by writing his office at 801 Pine Street, Chattanooga, Tenn., 37402-2555.)