No agreement between Regence BlueShield of Idaho and St. Joseph Regional Medical Center means the carrier’s insurance plans are no longer accepted at the Lewiston hospital.
St. Joe’s last year notified Regence of its intention to leave the insurer’s network if a deal wasn’t reached by midnight this past Wednesday, affecting more than 15,000 area residents. The disconnect is over how much the insurer pays the medical center for hospital and physician services.
Those affected are now subject to much higher out-of-pocket costs for care at the hospital, as most care will be billed as out-of-network for Regence subscribers, with exceptions for some emergencies and severe car accidents.
Executives on both sides continue discussions about a possible resolution. In the meantime, Regence encourages subscribers to seek care for non-emergencies from other non-St. Joe’s hospitals and health care providers to avoid higher costs. (Lewiston Tribune)
