Now here's a curious healthcare/insurance story...

In a nutshell, the East End Health Alliance is three hospitals on the East End of Long Island. Pretty much the only three hospitals on the East End of Long Island. They have been demanding a 60% increase in rates from Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield, saying they can't pay their bills on the skimpy pay they're getting, and they need the raise up to where other insurance cos are paying. Now they'll settle for 50%.

Empire says that's too much, and it gave them a 20% increase not that long ago. Besides, other Long Island hospitals don't get paid that much. So it's throwing them out of the network.

I'm not positive, but without these three, I think the closest in-network hospital is in Patchogue, 30-40 miles further away.

Now, the fascinating thing about all this is that it looks like nobody has ever released the numbers-- how much more than Stony Brook does Riverhead want? How much less than St. Charles is Empire paying? 50% more than WHAT?

I know that two of the hospitals, Riverhead and Greenport, have had major upgrades, massive building projects, and name changes. Could they be looking to charge off their capital costs to Blue Cross?

Can't tell, because the numbers are private between the negotiating parties.

It's kinda weird that you can't tell if there's a bad guy here, because none of it makes any sense.

http://www2.timesreview.com/ST/stories/T080609_Empire_jal