A new Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota payment policy is facing strong pushback from the state hospital association, which claims it will cost hospitals millions of dollars and push many small, rural hospitals "into deep, deep red ink." The Minnesota Hospital Association charged that Blue Cross's new payment approach, which adjusts how it pays for patient services at rural hospitals, will result in "below-cost or marginally above-cost rate unilaterally set by BCBS."
"Dozens of hospitals will have their payments cut on May 1, with individual impacts ranging from "hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars," MHA President and CEO Lawrence Massa said Wednesday in a statement. Blue Cross said it "strongly disagrees" with MHA's claims. "Our new payment approach is a less arbitrary and more transparent way to pay hospitals based on the specific needs of the people they treat," the insurer said. >> Read the full FierceHealthcare article