FORT WAYNE, Ind. — It’s the contract that will either live forever, or perish this week.
Anthem of Indiana and Parkview Health, Fort Wayne’s largest health care provider, have extended their current contract. The contract was originally scheduled to expire Tuesday night.
For months, tensions have been high between the two healthcare giants, with neither side agreeing to the terms presented by the other side. This has caused the contract expiration date to be extended multiple times.
Anthem has accused Parkview of charging patients four times what Medicare charges for similar care. Parkview says that isn’t true and insists they are committed to keeping costs low for Hoosiers.
A new contract between the two companies would lower medical costs for Parkview customers. Currently, Parkview customers are considered in-network, which keeps their final bills low.
If a new contract isn’t signed this week, then Parkview customers will be considered out-of-network and have significantly higher medical bills in the future.
The deadline for a new contract is now set for 11:59 p.m. this Thursday.
