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By KIT BROTHERS Globe Staff Writer . Six of the eight Southwest Missouri area hospitals which canceled St. Louis Blue Cross hospital insurance service contracts as of May 1, 1974, receive payments from Blue Cross patients quicker, spokesmen say. Spokesmen for the four area hospitals that did not cancel Blue Cross contracts report no significant change in the number of Blue Cross patients since May 1. At the other two hospitals that canceled, no change has resulted of any kind, according to representatives. The hospitals that did cancel Blue Cross contracts are: St. John’s Medical Center and Freeman Hospital, Joplin; Sale Memorial Hospital, Neosho; McCune - Brooks Hospital, Carthage; Aurora Community Hospital, Aurora; St. Vincent's Hospital, Monett; Cardwell Memorial Hospital, Stella, and Barton County Memorial Hospital, Lamar. The area hospitals that did not cancel include Oak Hill Osteopathic Hospital, Joplin; Jane Chinn Hospital, Webb City; South Barry County Hospital, Cassville; and Lockwood Memorial Hospital, Lockwood. Jim Randall, director of public affairs at St. John’s, says, “We're receiving payment more promptly than before,” adding that this is due to patients receiving Blue Cross payments quickly. ‘It is smoother than before, he notes. According to Mrs. Jeanne Jones, Freeman's director of public relations, ‘‘It just seems to be going along about the same,’ and there are ‘‘no particular problems.” ‘We're glad we made the change,’’ Dr. George Blankenship, administrator of Neosho Sale Memorial Hospital, says. ‘‘We have no desire to return to our previous, situation,” he continues. ‘The Blue Cross didn’t pay their share of the patients’ bill. As it is now, we settle with the patients and they pay what everyone else pays. Previously, we were paid on a formula that was determined by Blue Cross and frequently resulted in a loss on taking care of Blue Cross patients.” “I think they’re paying a little bit faster,” Jim McPheeters, ‘administrator of McCune ‘Brooks, reports. ‘“‘There’s not been any appreciable change.” Payments are coming in more quickly at Cardwell, Memorial, J.M. Flesch, administrator, says. ‘Under the system they’re operating since cancellation, we'd rather not have a contract.” “The patient is paid more quickly than the hospital was before,” Helen Neyer, business manager at Aurora Community Hospital, says, and the hospital is being paid faster. Mrs. Mary Morgan, business manager at St. Vincent's Hospital, says, “‘To my knowledge, we're getting payments sooner than we were before. Under Blue Cross contracts the patients sometimes took six to eight months to pay. Now, she notes, “a lot of them” pay within a week. “It depends on when the patient finishes the form, she explains. There is ‘‘no difference really’’ at Barton County Memorial Hospital, which did cancer, Jack Lynne, administrator, says. Keith Adams, administrator at Oak Hill, advises there has been “‘no significant change.” ‘The same patients are using the same doctors.”’ No change concerning dealings with Blue Cross resulted at the other three hospitals that did not cancel, spokesmen say. Sixteen southwest Missouri hospitals canceled contracts with the St. Louis Blue Cross hospital insurance service because of failure to reach agreements concerning the amounts to be paid by Blue Cross.
Newspaper Details
Joplin Globe
Joplin, Missouri, US
Fri, Aug 16, 1974
Page 18
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