KINGSTON – The City of Kingston has used Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield as its primary insurance carrier for its employees for years, but it recently announced the Kingston-based HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley hospitals will no longer be considered “in-network” with the company.
That doesn’t sit well with Mayor Steven Noble, who fired off a letter to the insurance company on Wednesday.
“The impact of this decision will be that hundreds, if not thousands, of hard working individuals and their families who rely upon HealthAlliance for their medical needs will be forced to change providers for services they would typically access through the conveniently located HealthAlliance facilities,” the mayor wrote.
Noble also said he has “serious concern as to how these changes are communicated.” He said while HealthAlliance will continue to care for individuals in emergency situations and Empire must cover those cases, “the instruction to individuals that they must seek service at other approved providers for non-emergent care may cause some individuals to avoid seeking medical attention for emergency situations, due to the confusing nature of this process.”
