Pardee Hospital comments on Mission/Blue Cross standoff

As the Oct. 4 date of the termination of Mission Health's contract with Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina approaches, other health systems are contemplating the impact of the termination on their patient volume. Photo by Virginia Daffron

Press release from Pardee UNC Health Care:

Open Letter to the Community

Pardee UNC Health Care has been asked by many in our community to comment on or engage in the current impasse between Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC and Mission Health. We have chosen to remain neutral on this matter, believing that both parties are reasonable, respected entities who can and will eventually reach an agreement.

We value our relationships with both Blue Cross Blue Shield and Mission Health. We know them to be fair and sensible and we strongly believe it is important for both parties to sit down and work this out, allowing patients to stay with their physician or provider of choice.

No one wants to leave their doctor to find a new one and very few of us enjoy doing so as a result of a disagreement completely out of our control. At Pardee, we believe patients should have access to care, close to home. For those currently under the care of Mission Health, we understand their desire to keep their current relationships and avoid a move.

Unfortunately, negotiations between Blue Cross Blue Shield and Mission Health appear to be at a standstill. Until the matter can be resolved, patients will be forced to seek care where their insurance is accepted, pay higher portions of their bills, or find a new insurance plan other than Blue Cross Blue Shield. None are optimal choices, but this is the reality as of October 5th.

Pardee will see new patients because of this situation, but not as a result of opportunistic marketing efforts on our behalf. We anticipate an uptick in Blue Cross Blue Shield patients visiting our urgent care centers and physician practices during this time of transition.

We also understand and expect that these folks may want to return to their current care providers once Blue Cross Blue Shield and Mission Health finally sort this out. When that time comes, we will quickly and efficiently share patient healthcare records with their original Mission Health providers.

Pardee is here for our region and community during this time of uncertainty. We continue to remain optimistic that a resolution will be reached between Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC and Mission Health.
Sincerely,

James M. Kirby, II
President and CEO
Pardee UNC Health Care

For more information on the Mission Health/Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina impasse, see Mission Health and BCBSNC continue to battle over contract, Xpress, Sept. 6.

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About Virginia Daffron
Managing editor, lover of mountains, native of WNC. Follow me @virginiadaffron

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8 thoughts on “Pardee Hospital comments on Mission/Blue Cross standoff

  1. Jason

    In network providers are scabs!
    I applaud mission for standing up to the monopoly BCBS.
    Missions executives know they can make more money NOT taking peanuts from BCBS!

    • NFB

      Mission is as much a monopoly as BC. They’ve been seeing to that by buying up virtually every medical facility in WNC and then cutting services. See Franklin, Spruce Pine, etc.

      “Missions executives know they can make more money NOT taking peanuts from BCBS!”

      Of course they do. That is what it is all about. M-O-N-E-Y! Patients are only dollar signs to BOTH Mission and BC. Just how will Ron Paulus’ health care be affected by all this. I’ll betting he’ll be fine, while he, Mission, and BC show nothing but contempt for the people they are supposed to be serving. Will Paulus see a pay cut for this failure? Will BC’s CEO? Of course not. They are not the ones who have to pay anything for acting like 4 year olds in a sandbox.

      A massive pox on both their houses.

      • Jason

        “Mission is as much a monopoly as BC.”…really!!??
        Mission owns healthcare in WNC; BCBS owns healthcare coverage nationwide…..

        • NFB

          BCBS owns healthcare nationwide, but they are not the only health insurance company.

          Mission has been buying up hospitals and health care practices all over North Carolina. The result has been the elimination of of services in many places, such as maternity wards in Franklin and Spruce Pine.

          The whole miserable episode in with BOTH Mission and BCBS have made abundantly clear that they have little concern for the people they are supposed to serve and are only concerned about their respective bottom lines. It is a classic example of the failures of health care by spreadsheet.

          • Jason

            We live in a for profit healthcare SYSTEM; SHAME ON US! Mission has every legal AND ethical right to test the markets to see if they can make more (enough) money to stay afloat, because what BCBS is proposing will sink them; regardless of who and how much local healthcare they’ve (Mission) bought up…. Our US healthcare system SUCKS! Glad to see Mission (David) stand up to BCBS (Goliath)….. I used to be a provider who had to join the BCBS (Mafia) just to be an in-network (scab) provider…. needless to say; it was humiliating!

          • NFB

            “Mission (David) stand up to BCBS (Goliath)”

            Gufaaw!

            Yes, poor little Mission with assets of only 1.4 BILLION dollars.

            Neither Mission nor BCBS is David in this. They are both Goliath.

            David are the people they are supposed to serve but they have been treating with complete and utter contempt during this whole PR war.

          • luther blissett

            “Mission has every legal AND ethical right to test the markets to see if they can make more (enough) money to stay afloat”

            Yes, because it’s not as if they’ve got hundreds of millions to spend on shiny new buildings and have been talking about it eagerly to the Mountain Xpress. Oh.

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