Long time to go without payment for the hospital...June...BD
Thousands of Condell Medical Center patients are getting caught in the crossfire in an ongoing feud between the Libertyville hospital and one of the state's largest insurance companies. Beginning Sept. 30, Condell will no longer accept Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois PPO. The company's HMO Illinois and Blue Advantage HMO customers aren't faring much better. That insurance will be accepted by the hospital only through the end of the year. "This will have a significant effect on our patients as well as Condell," said Jodi Levine, vice president of business development for the hospital.
What this means is patients scheduled for cancer treatments, surgeries or births after the contracts expire will have to find a new doctor and hospital, or hope that their physician practices at another hospital still accepting Blue Cross Blue Shield.
I think it is about time that insurance companies, like the conglomerate that BC/BS is, be held accountable. What they are doing to their patients would be viewed as negligable by any malpractice attorney but yet it is ok for BC/BS to do it because there is no accountability for insurance companies to their patients. They need to come to the table and negotiate, not throw their weight around and say because we are a giant we can do whatever we want. This is harmful to every paying patient who gives their money to this huge insurance company and as a client, I am outraged at their behavior. We as the consumer do not matter to them, all that matters is that we pay the premiums and make them richer. What a sad day for medicine and health care, when insurance companies dictate to hospitals and health care professionals how to take care of their patients. BC/BS should be ashamed of themselves!
ReplyDeleteFound this site on google. A comparison of charges conducted by a non-for-profit organization found that “Condell Medical Center (Libertyville, IL) charges 392% times its costs. That is 316% times what Johns Hopkins charges!”
ReplyDeletehttp://hospitalvictims.com/hv_hosp_anc.asp?mpn=140202
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