It has been almost three months since 90,000 people were left out of network after MU Health Care and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield failed to reach a new agreement.
The Missouri Senate Insurance Banking Committee heard testimony from both sides on Monday. MU Health Care CEO Ric Ransom testified to the committee and said the initial proposal MU Health Care sent to Anthem in July of 2024 of 39% included aggressive, but reasonable increases.
“Our initial proposal is not our last proposal,” said Ransom. We begin with 13% per year increases and we ended with 9, 9 and 8% over that same period of time.
Anthem’s proposal stayed the same. It was 1% for our physicians, 2% for our hospitals.”
Rich Novack who represented Anthem at the hearing, said Anthem is willing to agree to the existing policy contract language and agree to a three year increase.
“Where each year the increase is 100 basis points, one full percentage point higher than the public CPI,” said Novack. “CPI was recently published at 2.3. We’ll agree to 3.3 with all the existing provisions, provisions, by the way, which if altered, would save the state a lot of money right here, right now. We could end this.”
Dr. Ted Choma, Chair of University Physicians, provided the following statement after the hearing.
To continue delivering the essential care central Missourians depend on, MU Health Care made clear that it will not be bullied into an unfair agreement by Anthem. Today’s hearing was a critical step forward in gaining a shared understanding of how Anthem has refused to adequately and fairly reimburse MU Health Care for the cost of care, walking away from negotiations and putting pressure on patients” he said in part.
Anthem provided the following response in an email to Missourinet News.
We appreciate the Missouri Senate Insurance and Banking Committee for holding Monday’s hearing and facilitating an open and productive dialogue about the ongoing negotiations. Following the hearing, Anthem met with MU Health Care leadership to continue discussions. We’re encouraged that some initial progress has been made and remain committed to working toward a solution that restores in-network access while protecting affordability for the Missourians we serve.
There is no word on whether the two sides plan to meet again about the contract negotiations.
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