Hospital drops IU employees' insurance

IU sent letters to employees Wednesday, informing them their health insurance will no longer be accepted at Bloomington Hospital starting Jan. 1.\nThe notification follows a seven-month-long dispute between the hospital and Anthem/Wellpoint, IU's health insurance provider for employees. \nHowever, both Bloomington Hospital and Anthem officials remain optimistic that the contract will be renewed before service is cut. Anthem, which includes Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, serves about 1.4 million people statewide, said Tony Felts, spokesman for the insurance company. \nUnless the companies reach an agreement, Anthem customers will face significantly higher out-of-pocket costs at Bloomington Hospital, the hospital announced in November. IU employees can still receive treatment at the hospital, though they will be billed at an out-of-network rate.\nDan Rives, IU associate vice president of administration and university human resources, said he was hopeful an agreement would be reached by the deadline.\n"We're hopeful that nothing will happen," he said. "We want this to be done at the end of the year."\nRives said IU employees will receive more information about what to do at the end of December if an agreement has still not been reached.\n"By and large, it affects almost all employees," IU Director of Media Relations Larry MacIntyre said. He said he does not know if the University has a back-up plan if the contract is not renewed.\nAmanda Roach, communication coordinator for Bloomington Hospital, would not say whether officials from Anthem or Bloomington Hospital had considered that thousands of employees and students who have Anthem insurance through their employers or parents would lose coverage if the contract is not renewed. \nFelts refused to comment on specific details of the contract while negotiations are ongoing.\nIn a news release, Bloomington Hospital listed three main grievances with Anthem that were hindering contract agreements.\nAccording to Bloomington Hospital, Anthem has demanded the ability to amend its contract with the hospital at any time, to give out hospital price information to its customers and to place restrictions on changes in services or facilities at the hospital.\nFelts said Anthem and Bloomington Hospital have met at least once a week to continue talks about those complaints, which were set forth Nov. 3.\n"In the last 30 days I can say that we've made pretty significant progress on each of those three areas," he said.\nPatrick Bray, an IU assistant French professor, said he worried about how much stopping insurance coverage could increase costs for people covered by the insurance company.\n"The difference is if you are in-network, then the insurance company will have already negotiated prices with the hospital for specific procedures," he said. \nThough Bloomington Hospital and Anthem representatives wouldn't consider the impact if the contract ends in a month, IU professors expressed concern about the possibility.\nAssistant history professor Michael Dodson said he took his son to Bloomington Hospital a few weeks ago after he split his chin, and it cost Dodson $100.\n"Had that happened Jan. 2, I don't know how much that would have cost -- $1,000 maybe?"\nIf Bloomington Hospital will no longer accept Anthem, PromptCare clinics, lab services at some doctor's offices, the Bloomington Hospital of Orange County, the Southern Indiana Medical Group and the Continuing Care, Inc. facilities will all also be affected, according to a Bloomington hospital factsheet.\n-- Staff writer Michael Sanserino contributed to this report.