Hopkins is dropping CareFirst

[Anonymous]

Oh that’s awful. I didn’t see the letter…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I completely agree! Tell your HR about this and see if your company will change insurance providers. Or if you are a gov employee, change providers during open enrollment.


America has the crappiest health care system!

Well, don’t complain about your taxes. One reason it sticks us that we allow for profit players.

You should not be allowed to make money by scrimping on people’s medical care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When hospitals are billing $2k for a simple ultrasound (I got one on the exact same machine in China for $7) or $3k just to sit in an ER bed for six hours waiting for someone to see you (I did this in Europe for $40 as a non-citizen), the problem is not insurance reimbursement rates. Get your sh*t together Hopkins (and all other healthcare "providers")

Those countries have single payer/gov’t insurance. If you want lower prices, you need to endorse universal health care and higher taxes (which I would).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:as an orthopedic surgeon in the area i fully support johns hopkins approach to this issue

carefirst pays less than medicare

my costs for every aspect of staying in business have risen at a staggering rate since covid and we find it difficult to maintain good staff without paying competitive rates for our employees.

having a large number of carefirst patients makes this difficult as they crowd out slots for better paying insurances

all blue cross insurances pay different rates and they are all licensees of the blue cross name, not a unified company

i also however disagree with the timing. this should be coordinated at open season for enrollment in other plans

however the contract expiration between hopkins and blue cross may dictate the timing of this announcement

Oh no, fair wages!!!

[Anonymous]

We have BCBS Federal and use JH Community physicians for Primary care. We have not received an email or letter—is it coming from the insurance company or from the doctors office?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have BCBS Federal and use JH Community physicians for Primary care. We have not received an email or letter—is it coming from the insurance company or from the doctors office?

It came from Hopkins. You will be affected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait, does this cancellation by Hopkins include BCBS federal employee programs??

I think so. We have BCBS Fed and got a letter in the mail from John’s Hopkins about this.

Yes. I found this FAQ on the Hopkins page yesterday: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/carefirstcoverage/

"If we reach Dec. 5 without a fair agreement in place, then patients with a commercial PPO or HMO plan through CareFirst, a BlueCross BlueShield FEP plan or an out-of-state Blue Cross Blue Shield plan with Blue Card access, could have less – or none – of the care they receive at Johns Hopkins covered by their health insurance."

[Anonymous]

Anyone heard any updates? Our open enrollment period is before December 5th so I am trying to work out options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone heard any updates? Our open enrollment period is before December 5th so I am trying to work out options.

+1 Anyone ask their HR if they can switch after open enrollment if Hopkins drops CareFirst?

I'm pretty sure our deadline is November 15, so this might not be settled by then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:as an orthopedic surgeon in the area i fully support johns hopkins approach to this issue

carefirst pays less than medicare

my costs for every aspect of staying in business have risen at a staggering rate since covid and we find it difficult to maintain good staff without paying competitive rates for our employees.

having a large number of carefirst patients makes this difficult as they crowd out slots for better paying insurances

all blue cross insurances pay different rates and they are all licensees of the blue cross name, not a unified company

i also however disagree with the timing. this should be coordinated at open season for enrollment in other plans

however the contract expiration between hopkins and blue cross may dictate the timing of this announcement

Oh no, fair wages!!!

I think what they're saying is that without payments higher than what CareFirst pays they can't pay competitive wages?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:thank the greedy doctors and big pharma.

Actually Hopkins doctors don’t get paid much at all.

Yes i vouch for this--doc who sees Hopkins docs...they are driven by compassion-maybe ego but believe me its not money...

Hopkins docs get paid the worst out of anyone we know as compared to private practice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone heard any updates? Our open enrollment period is before December 5th so I am trying to work out options.

+1 Anyone ask their HR if they can switch after open enrollment if Hopkins drops CareFirst?

I'm pretty sure our deadline is November 15, so this might not be settled by then.

This is me too. I haven’t gotten confirmation from my employer about that.

I’m also having trouble finding proof of insurance coverage on the Hopkins site. I got a verbal confirmation from one provider that they take different insurance but I want it in writing before I switch since if I do switch it’ll be before December 5th. So annoying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This may not stick. Brinksmanship is common in the negotiations between powerful provider networks and insurers. They are probably contractually required to provide notice, but sending this sort of notice also gives JH significant leverage, as complaints will start pouring into CF. Even if JH actually goes out of network, it may only be for a short time, as the complaints often bring the parties back to the negotiating table. Still, absolutely sucks for patients.

Have Care First / BCBS, due in early 2023, and my OB only has privileges at Sibley. Both of our employers only offer BCBS.

Yes, I'd be furious. What will your employers do to accommodate this?

Literally nothing. She’ll have to get a new OB.

Good luck, PP.

Correct. This is PP. I will have to change OBs in the third trimester.

When I delivered there was no guarantee that I'd get my OB there. Doctors from different practices covered for each other for the weekends.

[Anonymous]

Hopkins is a terribly run hospital system. Their children's hospital in Florida almost lost their medicaid funding due to safety lapses: https://www.tampabay.com/investigations/2019/02/01/federal-officials-threaten-all-childrens-funding-citing-problems/.

Good on BCBS for not feeding the beast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hopkins is a terribly run hospital system. Their children's hospital in Florida almost lost their medicaid funding due to safety lapses: https://www.tampabay.com/investigations/2019/02/01/federal-officials-threaten-all-childrens-funding-citing-problems/.

Good on BCBS for not feeding the beast.

You’re dumb if you think that every hospital that has the JH label slapped on it is identical. ACH was a sh*tshow long before JHHS took over, and they simply failed to clean it up fast enough (for which they have been correctly criticized).

All politics is local and so is all health care.