Current contract between Anthem, Parkview extended for 90 days

Human Resources – Benefits has received an update on the ongoing contract negotiations between Anthem and Parkview Health System. The current contract between the two parties will be extended 90 days, through 11:59 p.m. July 28.

The extension was agreed upon in order to allow the organizations to work together to ensure that the needs of the public are being met during the COVID-19 public health situation. Negotiations are expected to resume in July as Anthem remains committed to negotiating a new contract to make health care more affordable for residents of northeast Indiana.

A 2017 RAND study, which analyzed insurance claims data from mid-2013 to mid-2016 and shows unprecedented cost disparity for hospital care in Indiana with particularly high costs from Parkview Health, spurred the contract negotiations. Additionally, the Employers’ Forum of Indiana has made a National Hospital Transparency Report Supplement (May 2019) available, which provides detailed data from the transparency initiative. According to the supplement, Parkview Health is the second highest in the state in regard to hospital system relative price rank. The supplement is available for download from the Employers’ Forum of Indiana’s website.

“We appreciate the fact that these two partners recognize the current environment and are continuing to work together to serve the Purdue population at this time,” said Candace Shaffer, senior director of benefits in Human Resources. “We have not wavered in pursuing our goal to help the Purdue community be smart health care consumers, and the fact remains that currently hospital prices in Indiana are extremely high and continue to rise, which challenges our efforts and the strides we have made so far to help the employees we serve. We continue to support a stronger partnership between Anthem and Parkview that is cost-controlled and transparent.”