Anthem vs Premier: I Told Ya So�

Way back in February, I wrote a series of posts about the Anthem Insurance versus Premier Health issue. Briefly, Anthem is this area�s largest health insurer, while Premier encompasses the most actual healthcare providers. Their contract expired, and as a result, folks covered by Anthem who see Premier docs and use Premier facilities must pay a much higher rate for services provided.
Business is apparently so bad that at least one Premier provider, Premier HealthNet (a group of primary care docs) is offering a discount of up to 30% for their Anthem patients, to help cushion the blow.
I had observed at the time that, while the two Premier hospitals could probably weather the storm, I had my doubts that the physicians, with much shallower pockets, could bear the long-term brunt of this painful situation.
On the bright side, I must applaud Premier for taking the unusual step of contacting their Anthem patients, encouraging them to urge their employers to switch to a carrier that included Premier. I can report, though, that I have yet to be called by any Anthem clients who wish to change carriers due to this circumstance. And I haven�t heard from any colleagues that they�d been asked, either.
But as always, the big loser is the patient. As one Premier doctor observes, �Healthy patients can transfer to another doctor with little problem. But the chronically ill, elderly or mentally impaired suffer most.�

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