North Idaho hospital could end contract with major health insurer that covers state employees

A North Idaho hospital and a major Idaho health insurer are struggling to renegotiate a contract to keep the hospital in network.

Kootenai Health and Regence BlueShield of Idaho are “at an impasse” to renegotiate the provider care contract, state officials recently said.

If a deal isn’t struck by Jan. 1, the Coeur d’Alene hospital could become out-of-network for Regence, which runs the health insurance plan for state government employees and several other plans. The contract ending could raise health care costs at the hospital for around 11,000 Idahoans.

Regence and Kootenai Health say the struggle to strike a deal has revolved around setting fair rates for the hospital.

Regence Blue Shield of Idaho’s vice president of network management, Ryan Pharis, said negotiations are still unde