Northern Light to hold off billing Anthem patients until contract reached

By Wendy Watkins, Bangor Daily News Staff

As Northern Light Health and Anthem continue mediation toward a new contract, patients with Anthem insurance plans won’t be billed, according to Northern Light spokesperson Suzanne Spruce.

“Until we reach a final decision, we will be holding all bills for any patient care that has occurred outside of our final contract date of Friday, Oct. 31,” Spruce said in a statement Tuesday morning. “In the event an agreement is reached, we will ensure the contract is retroactive so that any care provided during this period will be billed at in-network rates.”

Last weekend, after the contract deadline between Brewer-based Northern Light Health and Anthem, Maine’s largest insurer, had passed, Northern Light pledged to treat Anthem patients as in-network — a move Anthem on Monday called a “recipe for patient confusion.”

The dispute between Northern Light and the state’s largest private health insurer began months ago as the two sides worked to reach a new agreement. Since then, each has accused the other of being inflexible or making unreasonable demands at the bargaining table.

On Monday, Anthem said that Northern Light’s latest proposal “continues to exceed what we can ask our members and employer customers to pay.”

“We are focused on having Northern Light Health in our network at prices our members and employers can afford,” the insurer said in a statement.

Spruce said those seeking updates can visit northernlighthealth.org/anthem.