New Jersey Catholic health-care system charges religious discrimination by insurer

September 29, 2015

The president of New Jersey’s Catholic HealthCare Partnership has charged that the state’s largest insurance company “schemed in secret” to exclude Catholic hospitals from a new health-insurance programs.

Sister Patricia Codey said that only religious discrimination could explain why Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield did not include Catholic hospitals in a new group of health-care plans. She said that the Catholic hospitals were known for quality of care and efficiency in handling costs.

The insurance company denied having considered the religious affiliations of hospitals included in the plan, and said that the plans were based solely on the “demonstrated commitment of those health systems to move from fee-for-service to fee-for-value health care.”

 

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Further information:

• Secret scheme kept Catholic hospitals out of N.J.'s largest network, hospitals say (NJ.com)