Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi, the largest health insurer in the state, has sent a termination notice to Naples, Fla.-based Health Management Associates indicating it will ax contracts with Health Management's hospitals by the end of August, according to an Associated Press report.
Health Management has 10 hospitals in Mississippi, all of which sued BCBS in June. The hospitals claimed the payer has been underpaying them by millions for certain inpatient procedures. The report did not indicate if Health Management and BCBS planned to meet to discuss the contracts. If the notice goes into effect, Health Management's Mississippi hospitals will be out-of-network for BCBS patients.
BCBS is also in a contracting dispute with University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, the hospital that treats the most inpatients in the state, according to the report. BCBS and UMMC have until Aug. 28 to negotiate a new deal.
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