For providers, negotiating with managed care companies has always up there on the fun scale with, say, having a root canal done. But in recent times, observers say, the situation has gotten even worse, with negotiations getting up close, personal and even violent. When things get so bad that a Denver UnitedHealth executive's home gets vandalized during talks with HCA, HCA hospitals run scare-tactic ads warning patients that their health is in danger if Las Vegas's Sierra Health Services drops its properties there, and BCBS of Georgia publicly accuses a Piedmont Healthcare official of lying, you know there are a lot of bad feelings in the air.
But what is causing seemingly record levels of acrimony? For one thing, continually rising health costs, which climbed 6.1 percent this year, are pressuring all involved. Hospitals are balking over new efforts to link reimbursement to quality measures, as no one set of standards has won broad acceptance. Then there's HCA, in particular, which is in the midst of going private as part of an investor buyout, and struggling with high levels of debt. All told, it looks like it's going to be a tough few years for managed care-hospital relationships. Fasten your seat belts, folks!
Learn more about the hospital-insurer wars:
- read this Associated Press piece