As a customer-owned health insurance industry leader in Texas for more than 90 years, it is important to stand up for affordable care."Īlthough, as a nonprofit, Ascension describes profits as "excess of revenues and gains over expenses and losses" and avoids more than $1 billion each year in taxes, its CEO earned $13 million last year, per the December 2022 New York Times report. (Although, importantly, Blue Cross always covers emergency room visits for serious or life-threatening ailments, regardless of whether a hospital is in network.)Īscension has not responded to the Chronicle's questions, but announced in a statement that they're looking for a "commitment to reasonable terms." Meanwhile, BCBSTX's own statement points out that Ascension "is already one of the most expensive health systems in the Austin and Central Texas area. 26 that it reached an agreement with BCBSTX, meaning there will be no interruption in coverage.)īy BCBSTX's own count, about 66,000 of their members accessed Ascension providers or facilities at some point last year, so about that many people could be affected if Ascension becomes out-of-network for their members. 1 thousands of Central Texans could lose access to some of the most-relied-on hospitals and medical facilities in the area. If the two can't agree on a deal in the next three weeks, come Feb. Seton Shoal Creek Hospital (Photo by Seton / CC BY-SA 3.0)Ī month after The New York Times published a damning investigative piece on the "profits over patients" model of Ascension hospitals, news broke last week that a deal between Ascension Texas, the state's largest private hospital network, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, the largest insurance company in Central Texas, is falling apart.
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