Hundreds of Mountain Empire residents may have to switch doctors this year after the latest round of contract negotiations between Mountain States Health Alliance and one of the country’s largest insurance companies fell apart in October and no progress had been made since.
“CIGNA proposed contractual terms that were unworkable for MSHA,” Marvin Eichorn, the health alliance’s vice president and chief financial officer, said in an earlier news release announcing the breakdown in his company’s negotiations.
Eichorn said his company proposed a “collaborative arrangement that focused on cost reduction, improved patient satisfaction and better health outcomes for its members,” but the insurance company rejected this proposal.
This breakdown means doctors and hospitals affiliated with the health alliance – a list that includes Johnson City Medical Center and Johnston Memorial Hospital in Abingdon, Va. -- will no longer accept CIGNA’s health insurance coverage after Jan. 1, 2012.
But Wellmont Health System, which manages hospitals like Bristol Regional Medical Center and Holston Valley Medical Center in Kingsport, Tenn., will continue to accept patients covered by CIGNA’s insurance.
“We have been pleased to work with CIGNA to provide a healing environment for its customers,” Wellmont President and CEO Denny DeNarvaez said in a Thursday statement announcing a new contract. “This evolution will extend care for more patients at Wellmont hospitals and facilities.”
CIGNA is the country’s 11th largest health insurance provider, according to a U.S. News & World Report article. It provides insurance to more than 66 million across the world, including employees of Media General – parent company of the Bristol Herald Courier and its news partner WJHL Channel 11.
gmclean@bristolnews.com
(276) 645-2518
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