PROVIDENCE – Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch last week called on Gov. Donald L. Carcieri to use his authority to protect Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island subscribers from any interruption of medical treatment or unnecessary costs for out-of-network service that may result if Blue Cross and Care New England (CNE) fail to resolve their current impasse affecting contract negotiations.

Care New England, which includes Women & Infants Hospital, Kent Hospital, Butler Hospital and the VNA of Care New England, has a four-year contract with Blue Cross that expires on Dec. 31.

John J. Hynes, president and CEO of Care New England, said in an interview last month that the insurer pays the lowest of any commercial payer. In a separate interview, Blue Cross President and CEO James E. Purcell countered that Blue Cross is the local nonprofit insurer, covering by far the most people in the state and that Care New England has acknowledged that it makes a 6- to 8-percent profit on its total Blue Cross book of business.

Lynch encouraged the governor to use his authority to involve the R.I. Office of Health Insurance Commissioner, as well as the R.I. Department of Health, to break the deadlock.

In a statement, Lynch said that although the failure of negotiations would obviously have a devastating impact on tens of thousands of Rhode Island residents covered by Blue Cross, the current impasse in negotiations also places enormous stress on patients already in treatment at CNE hospitals or planning to use their services in the near future. •