"Many of her calls never got past the hold music. When they did, the hospital told her to call her insurer. The insurer told her to have the hospital fax a form to a special number. The hospital responded that they'd been instructed to send faxes to a different number. "It was just a big loophole we were caught in, going around and around," Frank said."
"Frank and her husband, Allen, faced that ellipse of frustration because they were among 90,000 central Missouri patients caught in the middle of a contract dispute between University of Missouri and its MU Health Care, a Columbia, Missouri-based health system, and Anthem, the couple's health insurance provider. The companies let their contract expire in April after failing to strike a deal to keep the hospital system and its clinics in-network."
Amy Frank spent 17 hours on the phone over nearly three weeks trying to confirm her husband's post-surgery coverage while being bounced between insurer and hospital. Calls often stayed on hold and each party redirected responsibility, including conflicting fax instructions, leaving the couple trapped in procedural deadlock. The Franks were among roughly 90,000 central Missouri patients affected when University of Missouri's MU Health Care and Anthem let their contract lapse in April after failing to reach a deal. Similar negotiation impasses have appeared elsewhere, and preliminary findings show 18% of non-federal hospitals faced public brinksmanship with insurers from June 2021 to May 2025.
Read at www.npr.org
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