Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi and Naples, Fla.-based Health Management Associates have reached an agreement under which all of Health Management's hospitals in the state will be included in the insurer's network again starting Jan. 1, according to a report from The Clarion-Ledger.
Health Management's Mississippi hospitals agreed to permanently drop their lawsuit against BCBS, according to the report. Earlier this year, all 10 hospitals sued BCBS, claiming the payer has been underpaying them by millions for certain inpatient procedures. In response, BCBS sent a termination notice to Health Management informing the company it intended to ax its contracts with the hospitals.
In October, BCBS decided to reinstate four of the Mississippi hospitals — Woman's Hospital in Flowood, Tri-Lakes Medical Center in Batesville, Gilmore Regional Medical Center in Amory and Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center in Clarksdale. The hospitals had been out of network since September, although Health Management has not been charging those patients out-of-network rates.
State lawmakers also became involved in the dispute. Gov. Phil Bryant issued an executive order meant to force BCBS to reinstate the hospitals. However, he later rescinded parts of his order after the health insurer filed a lawsuit against the governor.
Under the recent agreement between Health Management and BCBS, River Oaks Hospital in Flowood, Biloxi Regional Medical Center in Biloxi, Natchez Community Hospital in Natchez, Crossgates River Oaks Hospital in Brandon, Madison River Oaks Medical Center in Canton and Central Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson will be reinstated in the BCBS provider network, effective Jan. 1, according to the report.
Health Management issued a statement saying the agreement follows "productive discussions," and the hospital operator and insurer are "mutually pleased," according to the report.
BCBS also issued a statement expressing appreciation of the Health Management board's willingness to work together to find a solution, according to the report. Under the terms of the agreement, officials from BCBS and Health Management were unable to comment further on the settlement.
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