‘Confident we can get this done:’ Florida Blue exec provides update on Baptist Health negotiations

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The clock is ticking on negotiations between Baptist Health and Florida Blue with tens of thousands of patients stuck in the middle.

The contract expires at the end of the month and more than 34,000 patients covered under Florida Blue could be searching for new care if the insurer and Baptist can’t come to a deal. It’s a concern Action News Jax has been reporting on for weeks.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

“I feel confident we can get this done,” Darnell Smith, Florida Blue’s North Market President, said. “We have a fair deal on the table. We want them in the network and we will do everything we can to get them across the finish line.”

Baptist Health told Action News Jax it’s asking for a deal that would impact Florida Blue’s health care spending by less than 2% annually for five years.

“I don’t know where they’re getting the 2% number from,” Smith said.

RELATED: Florida Blue patients worried about future coverage in the midst of Baptist Health negotiations

Florida Blue said Baptist’s deal leads to a nearly 10% rate increase a year for a total of more than $1 billion in new expenses over five years, which is three times medical inflation in that same timeframe. Smith said that could lead to bills up to $300 more a month for members.

“Our community cannot absorb that without a lot of hardships,” Smith said.

He argued Baptist has been getting rate increases for the past five years, even though Baptist said it hasn’t received a rate increase to its physicians since 2016.

“From 2019 through 2023 — they’ve had an annual escalator. That was agreed upon. Now it’s 2024, they’re negotiating another rate. We can provide the receipts,” Smith said.

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]

In response, Baptist sent Action News Jax a statement that said, “Florida Blue seems to be pretending we’ve never had a contract in the past. We are counting the amount over and above the below-market increase we would have continued to receive annually if we had done nothing to renegotiate our evergreen contract.”

“Our current contract allows zero percent increases for our physicians. Both hospital and physician contracts are now being renegotiated. The increase we have requested over five years is designed to help us stop losing ground but it will still be below-market,” the statement said.

Baptist added that its statement about 2% Northeast Florida market spend takes into account Florida Blue’s approximately 60% market share as an insurance company, Baptist’s 34% market share as a health system, and the percent of the healthcare dollar which is allocated to hospital and physician costs.

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]

“This is how we arrived at the conclusion that our proposal would only impact Florida Blue’s total healthcare spending in our market by 2% per year or less over the five-year period,” the statement said.

Smith has been on loan to the City of Jacksonville as Mayor Donna Deegan’s Chief of Staff since January. He’s recently received criticism from some for sitting on both sides of the table.

Action News Jax’s Robert Grant asked if there would be any difference in the negotiation if his time wasn’t split. In response, Smith said, “Let me be clear. I am working 100% of my time at Florida Blue.”

Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.