The publication reports that should the merger go through, the combined system could push for larger payments from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan, the largest insurer in the state at an estimated 70 percent of the commercial market when including the Blue Care Network.
Considering the $12.9 billion size of the proposed merger and Spectrum Health’s 1 million-member strong insurance arm Priority Health, the Economic Alliance for Michigan predicts higher prices for hospital visits and increased premiums around the state as the system pushes for higher reimbursement rates.
Spectrum President and CEO Tina Freese Decker told the Free Press that the combined system would use its size to take a value-based approach, lowering costs and improving patients’ overall health.
“Our price increases for 2020 and 2021 were less than inflation, and we believe that our new system that we are creating with Beaumont Health will enable even more affordability in the future while continuing to deliver care of the highest quality,” Ms. Freese Decker said.
According to the Free Press, a healthcare insider noted tension between the systems and BCBS of Michigan’s statewide dominance, as seen in Beaumont’s 2011 contract payment rate dispute with the insurer.
The merger still requires regulatory approval, but the systems seek to complete the move in the fall.
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