The Sun Herald / Associated Press, January 31, 2014
Insurers would have to accept any medical provider who meets contract terms into their network under a bill moving forward in the Mississippi House. The House Insurance Committee voted 7-6 Thursday to approve House Bill 553, with four members present but not voting. The measure comes after a dispute between Community Health Services, which owns 12 hospitals in the state, and Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi, the state's largest private health insurer. Blue Cross kicked 10 CHS hospitals formerly owned by Health Management Associates out of its network in 2013, taking the hospitals back Jan. 1. HMA was taken over by Community Health Monday.
