Oct. 29 marks the deadline for Cigna and Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center in Houston to reup their contract, which affects 70,000 members.
Rates are at the center of the conflict — the likes of which have not even risen to match inflation, Doug Lawson, CHI St. Luke's CEO, told the Houston Chronicle.
"While we are committed to reaching an agreement, we are increasingly concerned for the over 70,000 patients who will lose their choice of doctors and hospitals as well as the Cigna-insured employers whose cost will increase if we go out-of-network with Cigna," a St. Luke's spokesperson told Becker's. "Cigna, by refusing to come to a new agreement with St. Luke's Health and Baylor College of Medicine, is disregarding the heroic efforts of our physicians and health care professionals who have worked tirelessly every day during a pandemic to protect our community."
Cigna claims that St. Luke's price point is already above that of South Texas, but analysts told the Chronicle that the hospital's prices already were 44 percent lower than those of competitor Houston Methodist.
However, a Cigna spokesperson told Becker's that St. Luke's is demanding twice the proposed rate.
"We are working hard to keep health care affordable for our clients and customers," a Cigna spokesperson told Becker's. "We would welcome St. Luke's to stay in our provider network – but only on fair terms that ensure local access to care at an affordable cost now and in the future. However, St. Luke's Health continues to demand unreasonable rate increases and has been unwilling to discuss realistic solutions."