Southwest hospitals may drop Inland Empire Health Plan

Mar 8, 2010 — The Press-Enterprise

John F. Hill

Mar. 5, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- About 27,000 government health care recipients in southwest Riverside County may have to travel out of the area for hospital treatment starting April 1.

A contract between Inland Empire Health Plan and the operator of Rancho Springs Medical Center in Murrieta and Inland Valley Regional Medical Center in Wildomar is set to expire at the end of the month.

The nonprofit IEHP is a health plan serving about 420,000 people in Riverside and San Bernardino counties on government programs such as MediCal. About 27,000 of those people are in southwest Riverside County, CEO Brad Gilbert said.

IEHP members would still have access to Rancho Springs and Inland Valley for emergency care and other "medically necessary" procedures, and payments for services that have already been booked at the two hospitals will be honored, Gilbert said. But elective surgeries and other non-necessary procedures would have to be done at hospitals out of the area.

For Kellie Rivas, of Murrieta, that will mean at least a 30-mile drive to the Riverside County Regional Medical Center in Moreno Valley. Rivas, an event planner, and her daughter are receiving the government benefits.

All of Rivas' doctor's patients would have to go to the county hospital. Having been a patient at the county hospital recently for gall bladder surgery, Rivas worries that it's already crowded.

"Would I have died because I'm now waiting longer than I had to then? That's kind of scary," Rivas said.

Though both sides said Thursday they were still talking, IEHP members were told in a letter over the weekend that the hospitals would end their relationship with the health plan. They have until March 31 to work out a deal.

"We've been told it's a business decision, that they want more of our business going to Corona (Regional Medical Center)," Gilbert said.

Corona, Rancho Springs and Inland Valley are all owned by Pennsylvania-based Universal Health Care Services. The hospitals in Murrieta and Wildomar are operated by Southwest Healthcare System and are under the same contract, while Corona is run by another subsidiary.

Corona is about 25 miles north of the Wildomar/Murrieta area. Hospitals in Moreno Valley, Fallbrook and Hemet would also provide options, Gilbert said.

In an e-mail, Southwest spokeswoman Teresa Fleege said, "We are in contract negotiations with IEHP now."

Newstex ID: KRTB-0174-42689499