Northside Hospital, Anthem contract battle goes to court

New state law bars pullout by insurer during emergency.

Late last week, Northside Hospital announced a temporary reprieve in its contract battle with insurance giant Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield. The Atlanta-based health system said it had been granted an injunction in Fulton County Superior Court that averted a Jan. 1 termination of the contract.

Northside cited a new Georgia law (House Bill 454), which includes a provision that during a public health emergency, an insurer is prohibited from ending such a contract. So, at least for the moment, hundreds of thousands of Georgia patients with Anthem insurance will remain in network if they go to Northside providers.

Northside said it would continue its discussions with Anthem. “With the COVID-19 omicron variant now surging through the U.S. and Georgia, Anthem’s decision to remove Northside from its networks defied both logic and sensitivity,” Northside said in a statement.

Anthem said in a statement that the court order extends the current Northside contract only until Feb. 1.

“Continuing the current contract will not achieve the affordability or quality improvements we have been seeking from Northside, which is why we will not stop our good-faith negotiation efforts until we reach an agreement that is in the best interests of consumers,’’ Anthem spokeswoman Christina Gaines said.

State Rep. Mark Newton, R-augusta, a physician who was the lead sponsor of HB 454, said Monday that “this current contract dispute illustrates precisely the need for our recent bill protecting patients.”

Newton added that the Legislature “has worked to be sure individual patients are not crushed’’ in such contract battles.

Northside was not among the six metro Atlanta systems that recently reported large increases in COVID-19 hospitalizations, but a spokeswoman said it has seen a 221% increase in patients the past two weeks.