CarePoint Health Sues Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield for $76 Million
From The Record
Bayonne Medical Center
Three Hudson County hospitals known for charging some of the highest prices in the nation for care have filed a federal lawsuit against the state’s largest health insurer, alleging that the company owes them more than $76 million.
CarePoint Health’s hospitals — Bayonne Medical Center, Christ Hospital in Jersey City and Hoboken University Medical Center — say that Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey has an “intentional and unlawful pattern of drastically underpaying and/or refusing to pay” claims the hospitals submit.
None of the hospitals, which were purchased separately within the last decade by a for-profit group of investors, has a contract with Horizon that sets the rates the insurer will pay for care. That leaves the hospitals free to charge the insurer whatever they wish.