(WKBN) – If Mercy Health and Cigna do not reach an agreement, the Ohioans with Cigna’s commercial insurance plans will be out of network with Mercy Health on Tuesday.
Now, a local woman is concerned about where she will then turn to health care.
“I have no idea what I’m going to do on April 1,” said Cathy Suess de Boardman.
It is the day, if no agreement is concluded, Mercy Health will be out of network for the residents of Ohio who have cigna health insurance through their employers.
Suess is one of the people who would be affected by the change. She says she had to find new doctors when Southwoods Health got out of network with Cigna and now the same thing can happen again.
“It took so long to find new suppliers when they dropped Southwoods, I didn’t really have the chance to look. Now, once they dropped Mercy Health, so I really don’t know what I’m going to do,” said Suess.
It comes back to money. Mercy Health says that Cigna’s reimbursements are not sufficient and Cigna says that Mercy Health requires unreasonable rate increases.
In a statement, Mercy Health said in part: “Like all health care providers in the United States, Mercy Health is faced with significant inflationary challenges, labor and supply.”
But Cigna said: “Almost all of our employer’s customers’ services are self -funded, which means that any increase in the cost of care is paid directly by local employers, their employees and their families.”
The dispute leaves people like Suess worried about where they will turn to health care.
“I am at a loss. I need to study and find new suppliers again,” said Suess.
She says that she called the two companies and remained full of hope, but with the deadline, this hope decreases.
“I just believe my fingers to reach a regulation or perhaps extend negotiations or something,” she said.