Government must resolve health mess
The contract dispute between Condell Hospital and Blue Cross serves as an example of what happens to patients when government allows insurance companies, pharmaceutical concerns, and hospitals to play their games in a market place where quality and access to health care is secondary.
Make no mistake, the cancellation of the contract, the withholding of payments, the forcing of patients to select new physicians and hospitals, has everything to do with the desire to reduce the quality of health care and access to thousands of policy holders in Lake County.
1 have a heart condition and had bypass surgery in 1996. I had to be transported to Saint Francis Hospital for my surgery since no hospital in Lake County was prepared to offer bypass surgery.
Condell was authorized by our state to build a comprehensive heart center that will now no longer be available to Blue Cross PPO or HMO members who happen to have a heart attack or stroke.
Instead, they will he transported many additional miles to hospitals outside of our area. The saddest part is that their long term relationships with cardiologists and the doctors in their health care team will be replaced by doctors who do not know the background and histories of their new patients.
While current laws require Condell to accept all patients in their emergency rooms, you can rest assured they will be rapidly transferred to those hospitals that have contracts with Blue Cross.
It is no longer possible for me to listen to our president talk about maintaining a free market that allows insurance and pharmaceutical companies to dictate the quality, cost, and access to health care in our country. The solution to the conflict between Blue Cross and Condell lies with government making such negotiations subject to binding arbitration.
If some find my solution too extreme, I would point out Medicare patients have no problem with access to Condell Hospital. You see, Medicare serves as example of what happens when the government passed laws that held the health care industry accountable.
John H. Mason
Grayslake