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MA regulators: Did Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Partners HealthCare collude to fix prices and raise rates 75%?

Mon, 01/26/2009 - 8:36pm — DCblogger

Partners, insurer under scrutiny

Attorney General Martha Coakley has launched an investigation into whether the state's largest health insurance company and its largest healthcare provider may have illegally colluded to increase the price of health insurance statewide over the last nine years, according to several legal and government sources.

The attorney general sent formal demands for information to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts and Partners HealthCare late last week, the sources say, calling for a detailed account of their contract negotiations in recent years.

Since 2000, Blue Cross has boosted the rate it pays for medical care by Partners doctors and hospitals by 75 percent, dramatically more than the increases given to most other Massachusetts hospitals. Blue Cross now pays $2 billion a year to Partners, parent company of Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women's hospitals.

Why do we put up with this?

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headlines

By DCblogger on Mon, 01/26/2009 - 9:44pm

I can't write a headline to save my life.

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My headlines...

By connecticut man1 on Tue, 01/27/2009 - 3:29pm

are usually what writes the story for me. Go figure? Everyone is different. Try this title on for size:

"Mass. Health Care Collusion Crisis"

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Here's the original story

By Andre on Mon, 01/26/2009 - 9:53pm

in the Globe:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massach...

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