In May 10 issue, Russell County News
By Barbara Sharp Zimmerman, Columnist

Admittedly, it’s my bug
that is getting mashed in the
struggle between Russell
County Hospital and
Anthem Health Plans of
Kentucky. I am an Anthem
policyholder, and I have to
have monthly blood tests,
quarterly blood tests and
sometimes other tests and it
is very convenient for me to
run up to the hospital and
have them do them for me.

The RCH hospital people
are very competent and very
nice, and I like using hometown
folks for needed services
whenever possible. It
also saves me the time to
make a trip to Louisville,
Lexington or, at least,
Somerset. Gas being the
price it is, it also saves me
some money.

But now it seems that
Russell County Hospital
wants to be paid a fair price
for the services it provides
for people who have
Anthem health coverage,
which surely several hundred
other Russell
Countians and I do.

Anthem, on the other hand,
wants to pay RCH even less
for the services it performs
for Anthem patients than it
does now. They have agreed
to disagree, and, come fall,
Anthem will no longer reimburse
RCH as an in-network
provider.

My monthly Anthem premiums
are so ridiculously
high you probably wouldn’t
believe me if I told you what
they are. I just can’t believe
they aren’t making a mint
on me and many others who
have Anthem coverage. Of
course, Anthem will tell you
that they have to charge so
much to cover their entire
pool of insurants, some of
whom will run up huge
medical costs. But isn’t that
the point of insurance – to
protect individuals from
catastrophe?

I’m betting that Anthem
makes a gazillion bucks a
year on their health premiums.
I understand that they
have stockholders to satisfy,
but how much is enough –
and when is enough simply
greedy?

I think Anthem and
Russell County Hospital
need to put on their big-boy
pants and act like they’re
interested in the welfare of
the Anthem health-plan
holders in Russell County.
Maybe RCH can give a little;
after all, a tiny profit is better
than no profit at all. If all
the Anthem coverage goes
somewhere else, won’t RCH
lose even more money and
maybe even be forced to lay
off staff?

Maybe Anthem can make
a little less on its Russell
County policyholders; after
all, we’re a small county
and it shouldn’t hurt such a
big corporation all that
much.

I liked the attitude of the
City Council of Jamestown
when they voted to accept
the $225,000 offer for City
Hall and related property
from the Judicial Center
Project Board for the proposed
new Judicial Center.

Sure, the property was probably
worth more than the
offer, but the Council was
willing to sacrifice a current
value now for the greater
good of the community’s
future.

They did the right thing.
Hopefully, Anthem and
Russell County Hospital can
learn something from them.