St. Agnes Medical Center Renews Medi-Cal Contracts With State, Blue Cross
Last-minute negotiations at St. Agnes Medical Center in Fresno yielded a new Medi-Cal contract with the state and a contract with Blue Cross of California for Medi-Cal managed care plans administered by the insurer before both contracts expired yesterday, the Fresno Bee reports. The Fresno hospital sought higher reimbursement rates for Medi-Cal beneficiaries' care, which contributed to more than $11 million in losses at St. Agnes in 2002 and $41 million in losses over the past five years, according to hospital officials. Although he declined to provide exact details of the contract, J. Michael Gallagher, executive vice president of corporate development at Saint Agnes, said that the hospital will receive more money under the terms of the new contracts but will continue "to realize millions of dollars of losses from treating Medi-Cal patients." The medical center has signed a two-year contract with the state and a one-year contract with Blue Cross (Correa, Fresno Bee, 7/1).
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