BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Rejects HCA Compromise Offer to Keep HCA'S Tennessee Hospitals in Its Networks.Business Editors & Health/Medical Writers NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 12, 2002 HCA's MidAmerica Division announced today that BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee  This article or section is written like an .Please help [ rewrite this article] from a neutral point of view. Mark blatant advertising for , using . has rejected its final offer to allow BlueCross enrollees continued access to care at HCA HCA, n.pr See acid, hydroxycitric. hospitals after December 31, 2002. "In the discussion this week BlueCross gave us a gap they needed to close. HCA offered to meet them half way, but BlueCross rejected HCA's proposal," said Paul Rutledge, chief executive officer for HCA's MidAmerica Division. "We are deeply concerned about the impact this decision will have on our patients and physicians, as well as employers." From 1999 to 2002 HCA's rates to BlueCross rose an average of five percent per year despite their increased costs due to the cost of new technology and pharmaceuticals, labor shortages A Labor shortage is an economic condition in which there are insufficient qualified candidates (employees) to fill the market-place demands for employment at any price. This condition is sometimes referred to by Economists as "an insufficiency in the labor force. and care for the aging population. BlueCross' premiums for its enrollees rose 19 percent for 1999, 15 percent for 2000 and 31 percent for 2001. "HCA hospitals are working to find every way possible to minimize increases and control costs, but hospitals must achieve fair and equitable equitable adj. 1) just, based on fairness and not legal technicalities. 2) refers to positive remedies (orders to do something, not money damages) employed by the courts to solve disputes or give relief. (See: equity) EQUITABLE. reimbursement Reimbursement Payment made to someone for out-of-pocket expenses has incurred. that covers the hospitals' costs of providing care," said Rutledge. "Currently, the hospital inflation component of the consumer price index (CPI (1) (Characters Per Inch) The measurement of the density of characters per inch on tape or paper. A printer's CPI button switches character pitch. (2) (Counts Per I ) is 9.3 percent, but hospital reimbursement for the past several years has not kept pace with the cost of new drugs and technology, which have added significant costs to the delivery of health care." All HCA hospitals will continue to provide emergency care to all BlueCross participants, as they do for all patients, regardless of their ability to pay for such services. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion