UPDATE: Anthem/Wellpoint, Bloomington Hospital reach agreement

Health-care provider Anthem/Wellpoint and Bloomington Hospital reached a new multi-year contract Friday, concluding a monthslong disagreement between the two sides.\nAnthem, the state’s largest health-care network, also insures University faculty and staff. The two sides had been caught up in a contractual dispute since April 2006, and beginning March 1, 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. \nThe terms of the agreement were not available in the news release, but the two sides had come to a “multi-year” agreement through which “Bloomington Hospital, its affiliates and employed physicians will remain a participating provider in Anthem’s networks.”