INDIANAPOLIS – The Sisters of St. Francis Health Services, Inc. (SSFHS) announced today (Oct. 13) that its contract with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Indiana is set to end Nov. 2, 2008.
Reasons for the termination include Anthem’s lack of accurate and timely claims payment and the inability to secure contract terms comparable to other hospitals in the area, SSFHS officials said.
The termination will cover the following SSFHS hospitals and physicians:
St. Francis Hospital & Health Center (Indianapolis)
St. Francis Hospital & Health Center (Beech Grove)
St. Francis Hospital & Health Center (Mooresville)
St. Elizabeth Regional Health (Lafayette)
Home Hospital (Lafayette)
St. Anthony Medical Center (Crown Point)
St. Anthony Memorial Health Center (Michigan City)
St. Margaret Mercy Healthcare Center (Hammond)
St. Margaret Mercy Healthcare Center (Dyer)
St. Clare Medical Center (Crawfordsville)
Franciscan Physicians Hospital (Munster)
More than 300 physicians in the different SSFHS service areas
“SSFHS is a good partner that works closely with payers to resolve claims problems when they occur,” said Greg Yust, SSFHS vice president of managed care contracting. “We recently forged successful long-term agreements with Aetna, Humana, Saga more and CIGNA. The Anthem claims issues have been ongoing for more than a year with no progress whatsoever.”
St. Francis hopes to work out a new agreement with Anthem. In the event SSFHS is unable to reach an agreement, it will work continue to work with Anthem, patients and employers to limit the impact the contract dispute might cause.
