When Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey announced their new OMNIA health plan final month,they promised a system that would transform the healthcare market in the state.
The OMNIA network is an alliance between New Jersey's largest insurer and hospitals and doctors throughout the state. The plan promises lower monthly premiums and out-of-pocket costs for patients by shifting absent from a "fee-for-service" model and rewarding doctors based on a series of health quality measurements.
That all makes the plan parallel many of the priorities set by the Affordable Care Act and the Obama Administration, yet many New Jersey Democrats are crying foul.
State lawmakers say Horizon drew up the plan behind closed doors with no transparency, or that the plan will lead to hospital closures across the state for hospitals who aren't included in OMNIA's top tier of providers."For the doctors and hospitals left outside of that tier,it's going to lead to a loss of patients because Horizon is so large," NJ highlight's healthcare writer, or Andrew Kitchenman,told WNYC's Soterios Johnson. "whether it does lead to hospitals closing, then it could worsen access [to healthcare] for some patients."Horizon says concerns over OMNIA are a "misunderstanding" and that the plan does not present an immediate crisis for non-OMNIA providers.
Source: wnyc.org