Maine Coast Memorial Hospital in Ellsworth soon could lose its membership with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maine, which would leave more than 5,000 people in the area covered by Anthem unable to get coverage for treatment at the hospital.
The health care insurer plans to send letters to its subscribers early next week notifying them that MCMH membership in its network may be terminated on Oct. 1, Mark Ishkanian, director of corporate communications for Anthem, told Mainebiz this morning. The hospital’s current contract with Anthem, which sets prices Anthem subscribers pay for treatment at the hospital, is set to expire on that date.
MCMH and Anthem have been negotiating for “the better part of two years” but have not been able to agree on a new contract, Ishkanian said. Anthem has offered to extend the contract — as has already been done several times — into next spring, but the hospital refused that extension, according to Ishkanian. The offer Anthem has given to MCMH is “consistent with what other similarly sized hospitals in Maine receive,” he said. The Ellsworth American first reported the story.
The more than 5,000 people covered by Anthem in the Ellsworth area who want to use a network hospital to receive lower out-of-pocket costs would be forced to travel to other hospitals like Blue Hill Memorial Hospital in Blue Hill and Mount Desert Island Hospital in Bar Harbor. MCMH would be the only hospital in Maine not in the Anthem network if a new contract is not approved, Ishkanian said.
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