Salinas, CA: Anthem Blue Cross, Natividad Make A Shocking Deal: None At All: View From A Private Duty Caregiver Serving Carmel, Carmel Valley, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Gilroy, Gonzalez, Greenfield, Hollister, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, San Juan Bautista, Seaside And Soledad California
Natividad Medical Center announced on Tuesday that it was unable to reach a deal with Anthem Blue Cross (it served 4,000 patients last year covered by the giant insurance company). The shocker: it will continue to serve Anthem Blue Cross patients with no increase in the cost of care for those seeking medical attention. In an obvious move to give Anthem Blue Cross bad publicity and force concessions, Natividad CEO Harry Weiss told the Monterey Herald, "We're telling the public we will protect you. We hope to do the right thing in terms of partnering with the community," he said. The contract with Anthem ended on Sunday after the insurance company said it would "trim" reimbursement rates by 33% over the next couple of years. I am constantly amazed by the inaccurate use of the words trim and trimmed by politicians (and now insurance companies) recently, with Governor Jerry Brown saying on many occasions he would trim billions here and billions there. Making double digit cuts is not trimming, it's absolutely devastating to the one on the receiving end of the supposed "trim." Natividad is one of two hospitals in Salinas and the only one making money. It's owned by the county so the burden of Anthem Blue Cross non-reimbursement will fall on you and I, putting a tighter squeeze on an already tight budget. But I think it's the right thing to do. 33% is not trimming and Natividad is a public hospital serving mostly the poor. Many are on Medi-Cal which only pays a small fraction of what a private insurance company like Anthem would provide. I don't have any intimate details of the transaction, but just from reading the press it appears that Anthem is trying to put the squeeze on a hospital which is one of the few medical centers trying to serve the many poor residents of Salinas and the rest of Monterey County. Let's hope the bad PR forces Anthem Blue Cross into a more reasonable deal.
http://www.montereyherald.com/local/ci_19764901
About Richard Kuehn & Family inHome Caregiving of Monterey:
After more than a decade of caregiving, both in a professional environment and for a 97 year old family member I was dissatisfied with service from local caregiving agencies. I became convinced of the need for a service which provides very personal assistance to elderly and founded Family inHome Caregiving serving the Monterey Peninsula. Please visit my blog where I talk about important senior issues at:
http://www.familyinhomecaregiving.com/Blog
Natividad Medical Center announced on Tuesday that it was unable to reach a deal with Anthem Blue Cross (it served 4,000 patients last year covered by the giant insurance company). The shocker: it will continue to serve Anthem Blue Cross patients with no increase in the cost of care for those seeking medical attention. In an obvious move to give Anthem Blue Cross bad publicity and force concessions, Natividad CEO Harry Weiss told the Monterey Herald, "We're telling the public we will protect you. We hope to do the right thing in terms of partnering with the community," he said. The contract with Anthem ended on Sunday after the insurance company said it would "trim" reimbursement rates by 33% over the next couple of years. I am constantly amazed by the inaccurate use of the words trim and trimmed by politicians (and now insurance companies) recently, with Governor Jerry Brown saying on many occasions he would trim billions here and billions there. Making double digit cuts is not trimming, it's absolutely devastating to the one on the receiving end of the supposed "trim." Natividad is one of two hospitals in Salinas and the only one making money. It's owned by the county so the burden of Anthem Blue Cross non-reimbursement will fall on you and I, putting a tighter squeeze on an already tight budget. But I think it's the right thing to do. 33% is not trimming and Natividad is a public hospital serving mostly the poor. Many are on Medi-Cal which only pays a small fraction of what a private insurance company like Anthem would provide. I don't have any intimate details of the transaction, but just from reading the press it appears that Anthem is trying to put the squeeze on a hospital which is one of the few medical centers trying to serve the many poor residents of Salinas and the rest of Monterey County. Let's hope the bad PR forces Anthem Blue Cross into a more reasonable deal.
http://www.montereyherald.com/local/ci_19764901
About Richard Kuehn & Family inHome Caregiving of Monterey:
After more than a decade of caregiving, both in a professional environment and for a 97 year old family member I was dissatisfied with service from local caregiving agencies. I became convinced of the need for a service which provides very personal assistance to elderly and founded Family inHome Caregiving serving the Monterey Peninsula. Please visit my blog where I talk about important senior issues at:
http://www.familyinhomecaregiving.com/Blog
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