Boston-based Steward Health Care System is suing Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island, claiming the payor blocked Steward's plans to purchase a Rhode Island hospital last fall by failing to negotiate a reasonable contract, according to a Boston Globe report.
In a complaint filed in Rhode Island's Superior Court, Steward claims BCBS of RI engaged in anticompetitive practices and interfered with prospective contractual relations to hinder Steward's proposed purchase of Landmark Medical Center in Woonsocket.
Steward claims the insurer refused to enter into a contract with Steward for reasonable reimbursement rates for Landmark. Steward had pursued buying Landmark, a bankrupt hospital that had been operated in receivership for several years, for more than three years. It planned to expand its Massachusetts model of community hospitals into Rhode Island.
Last August, Steward CEO Ralph de la Torre, MD, penned a four-page letter to Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Kilmartin, detailing numerous stalled meetings and attempts to reach an agreement with BCBS of RI.
Steward terminated the deal in September 2012. "Despite support from many of Rhode Island's elected officials, regulators, unions and communities, a number of private healthcare entities are not in support of Steward's model of integrated community care," the hospital chain said in a statement.
Steward has requested a trial by jury and is asking for the insurer to pay unspecified financial damages and reimburse the health system for attorneys' fees.
2 Hospitals Settle Patient-Dumping Allegations So Far This Year
DOJ, 8 Healthcare Providers Reach Settlements for Alleged ADA Violations
In a complaint filed in Rhode Island's Superior Court, Steward claims BCBS of RI engaged in anticompetitive practices and interfered with prospective contractual relations to hinder Steward's proposed purchase of Landmark Medical Center in Woonsocket.
Steward claims the insurer refused to enter into a contract with Steward for reasonable reimbursement rates for Landmark. Steward had pursued buying Landmark, a bankrupt hospital that had been operated in receivership for several years, for more than three years. It planned to expand its Massachusetts model of community hospitals into Rhode Island.
Last August, Steward CEO Ralph de la Torre, MD, penned a four-page letter to Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Kilmartin, detailing numerous stalled meetings and attempts to reach an agreement with BCBS of RI.
Steward terminated the deal in September 2012. "Despite support from many of Rhode Island's elected officials, regulators, unions and communities, a number of private healthcare entities are not in support of Steward's model of integrated community care," the hospital chain said in a statement.
Steward has requested a trial by jury and is asking for the insurer to pay unspecified financial damages and reimburse the health system for attorneys' fees.
More Articles on Hospitals and Lawsuits:
14 Recent Investigations, Lawsuits and Settlements Involving Hospitals2 Hospitals Settle Patient-Dumping Allegations So Far This Year
DOJ, 8 Healthcare Providers Reach Settlements for Alleged ADA Violations