Insurance commissioner: UMMC, Blue Cross negotiations continue to move slowly
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Jul. 27—PHILADELPHIA — An attempt to resolve a dispute between Mississippi's largest insurance provider and its largest hospital is apparently making little progress.
Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney at the Neshoba County Fair told reporters that there is largely no update on the negotiations between Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi and the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
"Somebody's got to say, 'OK, we're willing to negotiate,'" Chaney, a Republican, said. "But we've got two stubborn goliaths that just do not want to sit down and talk. And you know who gets hurt? Everybody in the state of Mississippi."
UMMC went out of network with Blue Cross Blue Shield on April 1 because of disagreements over reimbursement rates and the insurance company's quality care plan.
The two parties agreed to enter mediation proceedings toward the end of April, but Chaney, a former state lawmaker, told reporters that both parties are being uncooperative .
While the two sizeable organizations continue to feud during the remediation process, people all around the state — including some in Northeast Mississippi — are getting caught in the crosshairs.
The Daily Journal previously reported that Ryleigh Wright of Tupelo regularly went to Children's of Mississippi, a Tupelo-based clinic associated with the UMMC's pediatric hospital, to receive treatment for central precocious puberty, a condition that causes the body to mature sooner than expected. Besides that condition, Wright also has an underdeveloped optic nerve for which she sees a pediatric ophthalmologist four times per year.
For years, the Wrights have been making regular visits to the Tupelo clinic, along with trips to the Jackson location every three months for costly injections.
Every three months, she receives an intramuscular puberty blocker injection called Lupron. The average retail price for a Lupron injection is more than $2,000, according to GoodRx. But without insurance, the out-of-pocket costs for the family just to cover these injections would be in the thousands.
Ryleigh's mother, Charlotte Wright, previously said that the hospital has been willing to work with their family on health care treatment. But she also worried about other families around the state whose parents who work minimum wage jobs, don't have Medicaid or Medicare, are trying their best but will choose not to get treatment because they can't afford it.
Chaney has no statutory authority to make the two parties reach an agreement, but he can force the both entities to come to the table for discussions.
The Tupelo native said he's encouraging the two groups to meet and find common ground.
"The university has not had a rate increase except 1% since 2018," Chaney said. "... Blue Cross certainly has a lot of money. They have the money to pay an increase without increasing anybody's policy fees. There's a happy medium somewhere, but somebody's got to give."
