Hardball negotiations aren't about health care

Negotiations between Carson-Tahoe Hospital and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield moved to the hardball variety this week when the insurance company announced its 1,400 Carson-area customers would have to go elsewhere for health care.

We're not privy to the negotiations, but we do understand this disagreement is about business and not about health care. And it appears to us that disservice has been done by Anthem to its customers by telling them they must drive to Washoe Medical Center or Barton Memorial Hospital if they want to be covered by their health insurance.

Carson-Tahoe officials are adamant they are the ones who have left the door open to negotiation, only to have Anthem slam it shut by deciding to end its contract March 12.

Perhaps it's only a negotiating tactic, and maybe this will work out in the end, but in the meantime Carson City residents and businesses who are customers of Anthem are being subjected to worry and uncertainty about their future health care.

It's become a cliche of the last decade, but it nevertheless disturbs us every time we are reminded how health-care organizations are more concerned with bills than pills.

Even then, Carson-Tahoe Hospital had evidence in hand -- thanks to the recent release of the Nevada Health Care Division's report on hospital finances -- indicating it was not only competitive but below average in its billed charges.

This dispute, though, is not about charges. It is about the size of discount Anthem can get from Carson-Tahoe Hospital, and whether that discount is comparable to Washoe Medical Center.

From a financial standpoint, that may seem like a reasonable concern for an insurance company.

What its Carson City customers must keep in mind, however, is the investment they already have in their community hospital. And the question they should ask is whose best interests Anthem has in mind when it tells them to take their business elsewhere.