Tell Mercy to honor their deal and protect access for Missouri’s Medicaid population

NEGOTIATION UPDATE:

We told you Mercy is threatening to disrupt access to care for thousands of patients unless Anthem agrees to give them rate increases 5x the rate of inflation. 

We have an update: Healthy Blue, Anthem’s Medicaid affiliated program, has agreed to Mercy’s proposed terms for its Medicaid plan to spare vulnerable populations from Mercy’s disruptive tactics, but Mercy is refusing to sign the agreement—just to gain leverage at the negotiation table and get more money from Anthem’s employer-sponsored plans. 

In other words, Mercy is holding vulnerable Medicaid members hostage until they get their ransom. 

The irony is that Mercy Health System is exempt from paying federal, state, and local taxes because they are a self-described ministry supposed to be providing charity care to underserved communities—the same communities they’re currently threatening! It also raises questions about how Mercy only spends 1.5% of its revenue on traditional charity care, far less than the tax breaks they’re enjoying.

Tell Mercy to honor their deal and protect access for Missouri’s Medicaid population.