Hospitals ink health pact
Doors remain open to HIP and GHI patients
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At the eleventh hour, the East End Health Alliance signed a two-year pact with Emblem Health, the parent company for both Health Insurance Plan of New York and Group Health Inc.
Details of contracts with managed care companies aren't made public, but had a contract not been secured, the three area hospitals -- Eastern Long Island Hospital, Peconic Bay Medical Center and Southampton Hospital -- would have been out of network for residents insured by either HIP or GHI. That included 56 Riverhead Town employees covered by HIP and 259 active employees and 115 retirees covered by GHI, also known as New York State Empire, according to Bill Rothaar, Riverhead Town's chief financial officer.
Peconic Bay Medical Center and Southampton Hospital had contracts with HIP that were due to expire at midnight Friday, while their contracts with GHI would have ended Oct. 5. ELIH's contracts with both insurers were to expire Nov. 13.
"Throughout the process, the goal of the three hospitals was to achieve a fair and equitable contract that set market rates which kept pace with the rising cost of hospital care," Paul Connor III, spokesman for the alliance and president and CEO of ELIH, said.
Details of the pact won't be made public, but Mr. Connor said he is pleased that the negotiations avoided any disruption of coverage for HIP and GHI subscribers.
A similar statement came from Emblem Health's Ilene Margolin, the company's executive vice president for communications and public relations, who said Emblem Health is very satisfied with the terms of the pact.
Had a contract agreement not been secured, the three area hospitals would have been limited to offering emergency services to area residents covered by the two insurers.
This is the second time in the past few months that the three hospitals have had to battle with insurers for a new contract that would keep them within network.
In June, the three signed an agreement with Oxford/UnitedHealthcare after three deadline extensions. One aspect of that contract, which was also likely negotiated with Emblem Health, was to put all three facilities on the same timing for their contracts. Officials at the three hospitals that make up the alliance believe they have more clout with insurers when they negotiate as a single unit, Mr. Connor has said in the past.
jlane@timesreview.com
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