Gainesville-based Northeast Georgia Health System will stop considering Anthem members in-network Dec. 31, three months after its contract with Anthem expired, according to The Gainesville Times.
Negotiations between Anthem and NGHS collapsed before a new contract could be reached by a Sept. 30 deadline. Now, thousands of NGHS patients with Anthem insurance will face out-of-network prices in 2020 if they access care at NGHS' hospitals, urgent care facilities and physician group centers.
Emergency care at NGHS hospitals as well as some Northeast Georgia Physicians Group practices were not affected by the contract expiration.
Steve McNeilly, NGHS' vice president of managed care, told The Gainesville Times that Anthem has not been in contact with the health system since Sept. 29. In October, Anthem told The Georgia Sun NGHS was proposing rate increases that "were projected to increase costs well above other health systems in the state."
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