Blue Shield of California has accused the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Medical Center and other UC hospitals of banning together in a "carefully orchestrated negotiating strategy" to help increase their bargaining leverage and get higher provider reimbursement rates, reports FierceHealthPayer. By working together to negotiate as a group, the UC hospitals are forcing Blue Shield to negotiate contracts with UC's statewide health system instead of the individual hospitals, which gives them more power to obtain higher reimbursement rates. Article