The Medical Center of Central Georgia says their contract with Blue Cross Blue Shield expires today after nine months of negotiations.
If the contract ends, the hospital says,they'll continue to accept Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance, but as an out-of-network provider, starting Friday. That means higher co-pays for customers.
But the hospital says negotiations are continuing and they hope to reach an agreement with the insurer.
The contract termination affects the Medical Center, its 841 doctors, the Central Georgia Rehabilitation Hospital and the Medical Center of Peach County.
They say people with questions can call their call center (47*) 633-8888 or visit their website www.mccg.org.
The hospital's statement does not say how many patients will be affected.
The company's website says Blue Cross Blue Shield and its affiliates cover more than 3.3 million Georgians.
According to a hospital news release, the system's CFO, Rhonda Perry, said, "Throughout this process, Central Georgia Health System has offered to continue substantial discounts to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia in hopes of continuing our contract renewal seamlessly. However, in order to achieve optimal patient care, we must address medical inflation and substantial declines in reimbursement. We are also sensitive to concerns about future premium increases and have kept our proposals well within range for the Georgia market."
We could not reach Blue Cross Blue Shield Georgia's spokesman for comment.
