COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — About 10,000 Southern Coloradans may need to find a new doctor by the end of the month.
That's if Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield and CommonSpirit Health don't come to an agreement by May 1st. They have been under contract since 2020.
There are four CommonSpirit hospitals in our area that are affected by this.
"It is crazy, it's not fair," said an Anthem health insurance member, Robert Patrick.
Patrick got a letter from CommonSpirit that warned he may lose his primary care doctor.
"I have type-2 diabetes and hypertension and I need to see my physician about every three months, I cannot afford out-of-network."
Patrick has been with the same doctor for seven years.
"I'm really comfortable with him, I can tell him exactly what's going on, what I'm feeling, so it's nice to have that relationship built up over all those years, I may lose that now."
Anthem claims CommonSpirit charges too much for medical care.
"CommonSpirit is already one of the highest cost providers in the state so any rate increases that they're asking for, which again is three times the amount of inflation," said president, Matt Pickett.
I reached out to CommonSpirit about this issue. The chief medical officers said healthcare costs are going up.
Dr. Oswaldo Grenardo said Anthem has been failing to reimburse them on time.
I asked Pickett if there had been any struggle in the past to make ends meet with CommonSpirit. "No, I don't think so."
Patrick hopes they can make a deal soon. If not, he worries about finding a doctor elsewhere who is taking new patients, "which isn't exactly easy in this overpopulated city."
If these two companies part ways and you have ongoing major medical needs, it's recommended to call Anthem about your specific insurance plan to talk about your healthcare options moving forward.
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