Now that the dust has settled, and thousands of customer-patients of Union Hospital and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield have exhaled, it might be beneficial to assess the losses and gains of the contract dispute that held much of the Wabash Valley enthrall.
The negatives are easy to spot: Neither Union Hospital Health Group nor Anthem did much for its public image during the months-long contract fight. The insurance giant will suffer fewer after-effects of the rancor because, unlike Union, it is not a foundational institution of our multi-county community.
Union Hospital is a vital element of life here. Its role and impact on all of us, with or without health coverage, are much greater than the insurance services it provides to patients through companies such as Anthem. With its $185-million expansion near completion, the hospital is one of a handful of heavyweights among us. Union offers too many important services, programs and joint ventures with universities and state and federal government to allow itself to ever again get sidetracked as it did during the dispute with Anthem.
Fortunately, the contract fight ended as it should have. Although the terms are secret, a deal was struck to keep the hospital “in network” of its largest private insurer. Surely, when this sort of disagreement again materializes, with Anthem or another insurance provider, Union Hospital Health Group executives will think twice before playing the game of public hardball they chose to play with Anthem.
Even though stress-related illnesses might be good for a hospital’s bottom line, we know it was never Union’s intention to make its customers sick with fear and anxiety. But that is what happened as the hospital played patients off against Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield. No more, OK?
Among the positives to emerge from the ordeal is the opportunity we all had to learn a lot more about the breadth and complexities of the health care industry and about our specific coverage. As the national debate over this issue intensifies, that knowledge should serve us well and help us become smarter health care consumers.
Also, given the competitive health care environment here, Terre Haute Regional Hospital found itself in a precarious position. Regional handled the situation professionally, providing service, input and information without exploiting the public’s fear and uncertainty for its own narrow interests.
Another plus is a bit ironic, but still useful for the future. The prospect of losing access to Union Hospital and its myriad services reminded many people in the Valley just how much we look to the facility for help. We expect it to be there, to treat us and to take our insurance, be it private, Medicare or Medicaid — and, as the county hospital, to do the same for the uninsured.
Which brings the assessment to one last item. Union Hospital Health Group may have seemed like a corporate monolith during the months of contract battle, but it is, in reality, a collection of human beings working to keep their friends and neighbors healthy and to care for them when they’re not. Nurses, doctors, physician assistants, technicians, aides, orderlies, business staff, cafeteria crew, custodians and an all-volunteer board far outnumber executives.
These hardworking people make up Union Hospital, and they are health care consumers, too. While it might be natural for the rest of us to harbor some resentment over the long, ugly fight between Union and Anthem, the higher road is to focus on these neighbors and friends who are charged with our well-being. It’s time to move on.
Editorials
TRIBUNE-STAR EDITORIAL: Assessing the fallout from contract battle
- Editorials
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EDITORIAL: Remembering Henryville
In the era of instant communication, the past seems to arrive much quicker.
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EDITORIAL: Towering response
It comes as incredibly sad news that a Garfield Towers resident has succumbed as the result of a fire last week at the northside apartment complex.
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EDITORIAL: Independent running mates
Almost certainly, running mates will not influence voters choosing Indiana’s next governor.
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EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the news
• Cream of the crop
• Keep the ideas flowing
• Remembering fallen officers
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EDITORIAL: Hazards of the spring abundant now on I-70
A major holiday weekend is approaching. The weather has been consistently inviting for travel and outdoor activity. Gas prices are even inching downward.
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EDITORIAL: Embrace the Sycamores
Terre Haute should understand the rarity of an opportunity to celebrate a championship.
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EDITORIAL: Good choice for stability
For the first time in 25 years, Indiana will have a new chief justice for its Supreme Court. For those who value stability on the state’s highest court — and we count ourselves among those who do — the appointment Tuesday of longtime Justice Brent Dickson is good news.
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EDITORIAL: Correcting the prison imbalance
Terre Haute will no longer count federal prisoners when the city slices its population into six equal City Council districts. That decision by the City Council last week to remove the inmates at the Terre Haute Federal Correctional Complex from the council district mathematical formula may not make waves, but it makes sense.
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EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the News
• Sometimes bureaucracies do listen
• April hours bring May flowers
• Getting our airport off the ground
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EDITORIAL: When it’s IU vs. UK, there’s got to be a way
If the annual Indiana-Kentucky basketball game was not significant, would the coaches of the two universities be talking like this?
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EDITORIAL: Sen. Lugar’s compelling message
Richard Lugar, no stranger to reading political tea leaves, undoubtedly knew for weeks that defeat was coming Tuesday night in his primary fight for re-election against a more-conservative-than-thou opponent. A statement Lugar released just hours after his loss of titantic proportions indicates that the six-term incumbent saw the reality even before he knew Richard Mourdock was to be his opponent this May.
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EDITORIAL: Reviewing the landscape
The compelling story line surrounding the race between Richard Lugar and Richard Mourdock dominated most of the local primary election chatter. With those stunning results now in the books and Mourdock heading toward a showdown with Democratic Party nominee Joe Donnelly of South Bend (the current U.S. House rep from the 2nd District), it’s time to survey the landscape for other general election races that will be worthy of attention.
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EDITORIAL: GOP changed; Lugar didn’t
Six terms. Overwhelming popularity. A statesman and a gentleman. A visionary. An icon in the annals of U.S. Senate leadership, even world leadership. So dominating on the political landscape that the opposing party did not even produce a candidate in the last election.
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EDITORIAL: An exercise in democracy
Primary elections rarely draw the same levels of participation as general elections.
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EDITORIAL: Fight against child abuse demands ongoing attention
As with many of our nation’s most maddening and perplexing social problems, one hardly knows how to fathom the egregious wrongs that occur when a child is abused.
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EDITORIAL: A ‘giant’ for his hometown
Home is where the heart is. That’s true for all of us. In addition, your heart can take you home.
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EDITORIAL: Curbing corruption a worthwhile crusade
If you are cynical about government, down to its most local levels, you may think it is overrun — or even controlled — by corruption.
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EDITORIAL: The politics of Primary 2012
In less than a week, voting Hoosiers get a chance to make a statement about the future of politics in their state and beyond. But whatever that statement turns out to be, the final punctuation marks won’t be added until November. It’s possible that nothing will be settled by the end of the night May 8.
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EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the news
• Their footsteps can lead us
• It would be music to his ears
• Feeding a genuine need
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EDITORIAL: Hoosier Republicans should stick with Richard Lugar
Until late 2008, most Hoosiers were quite pleased — and in many cases, darn right proud — to call Richard Lugar their senior U.S. senator.
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EDITORIAL: Matt Branam: 1954-2012
The sudden death of 57-year-old Matt Branam on Friday morning continues to leave an air of sadness hanging over the community.
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EDITORIAL: A transplant from St. Ann’s
It would be understandable, for most of us, if we were madder than the opposite of heaven if a beloved, historic, personal part of our lives was to be taken away against our will.
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EDITORIAL: Pragmatic approach to downtown development benefits community
Terre Haute has known for some time now that Indiana State University’s master plan includes creation of student residential centers off-campus in the nearby downtown area.
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TRIBUNE-STAR EDITORIAL: A salute to pride of ’55
Terre Haute gets the chance to witness and appreciate the extent of its rich baseball legacy this Saturday. Its past and present will merge at Bob Warn Field.
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EDITORIAL: A match of Mitt and Mitch?
Not every Indiana governor’s endorsement of a presidential candidate has made instant national news as did Mitch Daniels’ support for Mitt Romney on Wednesday.
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EDITORIAL: Drilling for fairness
Consistency and fairness were on trial Monday as the Vigo County commissioners grappled with a controversial rezoning request from a property owner who wants to drill for oil on his land near Hawthorn Park northeast of Terre Haute.
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EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the news
Cheers, jeers and tears
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EDITORIAL: Be fair, consistent, but keep smokefree ordinance on track
The steps toward a healthier, more vibrant community should continue moving forward.
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EDITORIAL: Inspired by tradition, celebration
With the observance of Orthodox Easter on Sunday, the spring holy holidays for Christians and Jews will have passed for another year.
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EDITORIAL: No need to sing the blues
The words from Terre Haute Board of Works President Bob Murray on Monday afternoon were as sweet to the ear as a blues riff from an electric guitar: “The bottom line is, [Blues at the Crossroads] should be able to operate just as it has before. It will get worked out.”
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EDITORIAL: Remembering Henryville
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