The Northeast Georgia Health System and Anthem have not reached an agreement to keep the health system in-network with the insurer.
NGHS had agreed to honor in-network rates for Anthem patients through Dec. 31, taking a loss of about $10 million a month. Anthem patients are now out-of-network with most NGHS facilities and providers. A judge has issued an injunction that will keep the system’s Gainesville and Braselton hospitals, as well as Hospice of Northeast Georgia Medical Center, as Anthem locations through Feb. 7, 2020. Northeast Georgia Physicians Group’s family medicine and internal medicine practices in Buford, Cumming, Dacula and Hamilton Mill have not been affected and are still in-network with Anthem.
The stalemate has left thousands of people in Northeast Georgia unsure about how to make health care decisions.
The insurer was formerly known as Blue Cross and Blue Shield but was renamed Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Georgia in January. Negotiations to renew a five-year contract between Anthem and NGHS began Jan. 30, but for months the health system and the insurer have disagreed on key points of the contract, including rates paid by Anthem and whether NGHS would have to renegotiate with Anthem when it opened or acquired a new facility.
Source: The Gainesville Times