I received a letter this week from Henry Smith, Senior VP of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee. BCBS is the provider of group insurance for a small company I own in Chattanooga. It was an unusual letter targeting the primary health care provider which my team of employees uses locally, Memorial Hospital, an outstanding medical institution.
The letter lamented the fact that Memorial had requested a service charge increase "four times the rate of inflation," and concluded, "we cannot maintain an affordable network for you and pay them" this increase.
I am sure Mr. Smith knows that Memorial's reimbursement is lower than other area hospitals.
It is no small irony that the same day I received the letter criticizing Memorial's costs, I received notice from BCBS that the cost of the group plan for my employees, a young, healthy group of folks, was going to increase more than 12 times the rate of inflation.
In other words, BCBS is charging this customer, and many others, more that three times the rate increase they complained about Memorial Hospital charging.
Mark Caldwell
Caldwell Management Group, Inc.
Certified Management Consultants