Anthem inks new contract

Health care provider Anthem/Wellpoint and Bloomington Hospital reached a new multi-year contract Friday, concluding a monthslong disagreement. \nAnthem, the state’s largest health care network, insures University faculty and staff.\nThe two sides had been caught up in a contractual dispute since April 2006. Beginning March 1, 2007, those covered by Anthem would have been considered out-of-network patients – forcing them to pay higher costs for services at Bloomington Hospital and its affiliates.\n“We believe we have reached a fair solution for both parties and for our region,” Mark Moore, CEO and president of Bloomington Hospital, said in a joint Anthem and Bloomington Hospital news release.\nThey didn’t reveal the terms, but the two sides have come to a “multi-year” agreement through which “Bloomington Hospital, its affiliates and employed physicians will remain a participating provider in Anthem’s networks,” according to the release.\nThe dispute stems from Anthem’s demands to have 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, according to a November 2006 Bloomington Hospital news release.\nThroughout the ordeal, University officials maintained that they were hopeful a new contract would be signed but would not say whether they had considered alternative plans for employees if a new agreement could not have been reached by March 1.\nDan Rives, IU associate vice president for administration and University human resources said previously he expected a new contract to come just before coverage was set to expire.\n“A vast majority of these types of disputes between hospitals and health-care providers all get settled at the very end,” he told the Indiana Daily Student in a January interview.\nAn announcement confirming the news appeared on the University’s Human Resources Web site. IU employees and their families’ IU PPO $900 Deductible, IU PPO-Plus and Blue Preferred Primary POS plans will continue to receive in-network service, according to the Web site.\nAlong with maintaining in-network status at Bloomington Hospital, the new contract also applies to services at PromptCare physician clinic and lab services at some local physican offices. In addition, the Bloomington Hospital of Orange County, the Southern Indiana Medical Group, Hospital House of Bloomington and Bedford and Residence at McCormick’s Creek, will all also continue to provide in-network coverage, according to the news release.