Children's, Blue Cross deal curbs payments

Children's Hospital Boston has agreed to a three-year contract with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts that will not pay Children's any more money this year, offering fresh evidence that the clamor to contain health costs is having an effect. In the second and third years of the pact, the hospital will be reimbursed by Blue Cross Blue Shield at a rate neither party would specify, but both said it was below the current 3 percent rate of medical inflation.