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After many months of negotiations all of Stellaris Health hospitals, including Lawrence Hospital Center, Northern Westchester Hospital, Phelps Memorial Hospital Center, and White Plains Hospital Center remain excluded from the Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield network of providers. We remain open to good faith negotiations; however, not much progress has been made in reaching a resolution.
YOU CAN ALWAYS ACCESS OUR HOSPITALS
It's important for you to know that even though the Stellaris Health hospitals are out of the Empire Blue Cross network, you can always access our hospitals through the emergency department for emergency care. This is the one place that Empire Blue Cross cannot restrict access.
THE CORE ISSUE WITH EMPIRE BLUE CROSS IS SIMPLE
All the publicly available data indicates that Stellaris Health hospitals are paid less by Empire Blue Cross compared to similar hospitals in the state and across the nation. All we are asking is that Empire Blue Cross pay us rates that are similar to what they are paying comparable hospitals in our state and around the country. Our need for adequate payment comes after years of underpayments from Empire Blue Cross, and we need to fix this contract now.
YOUR HEALTH CARE DOLLAR
At Lawrence Hospital Center, we want to provide good value for your health care dollar, and we believe Empire Blue Cross should take the same care when it's your health care dollar. Empire Blue Cross uses only 89 cents of your premium dollar to actually pay for care, the rest goes to Empire Blue Cross' bottom line and WellPoint's corporate profit. Last year, WellPoint, Empire Blue Cross' parent company, reported nearly $5 billion in profits, an increase of more than 90% since 2008. Over the last three years Empire Blue Cross has amassed more than $1 billion in profits. That's nearly $1 billion that Empire Blue Cross has taken out of the New York health system for its own profits instead of paying for care.
OUR INVESTMENT IN THE COMMUNITY
Stellaris Health hospitals recently invested more than $100 million in improving quality care through new facilities and services including new emergency departments, new maternity suites, a state-of-the-art Cardiac Cath lab, and a leading edge Cancer Treatment Center. Fair payments allow us to make these important investments, but when payments are inadequate, advancements take a back seat to the bare essentials and the quality of care suffers.
Stellaris Health hospitals are not-for-profit. This means that money we make is invested back into our hospitals to purchase new medical technology, establish new services, make facility improvements, and to ensure that all patients receive care, regardless of their ability to pay. We are safety-net hospitals, and we have a responsibility to take care of anyone in our communities who needs our help. Over the last two years, the hospitals of Stellaris Health have provided $22 million in uncompensated charity care.
WE'RE HERE TO HELP
We are working diligently to negotiate a new contract so that our patients can have the peace of mind of knowing that their care is covered at our hospitals. We owe it to our patients to be the best we can and that's what we plan to do.
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Empire Update
