In late December, the Eastern Shoshone Tribe released a statement in regards to SageWest Health Care in both Riverton and Lander, with accusations of “overcharging.”
The initial release is posted in its entirety below. SageWest has also issued a statement responding to the claims. That statement can be seen below the Eastern Shoshone Tribe’s press release.
SageWest response released to County 10 January 18th, 2019:
SageWest Health Care is committed to partnering with the Eastern Shoshone Business Council to resolve our issues related to outstanding patient payments, as well as negotiate a potential new service agreement with the Eastern Shoshone Tribe.
First and foremost, we are confident that we fairly and acceptably bill our tribal patients. In fact, we have had a provider agreement in place since September 2017 that offers a substantial discount to Eastern Shoshone tribal members. The rates that we offer the Eastern Shoshone Tribe are similar to – or better than – the rates we offer other payors. First Health, which represented the Eastern Shoshone Tribe, entered into a contract with SageWest, under which First Nation would pay claims at an agreed rate on behalf of the Tribe. We expect First Nation and the Tribe to uphold their contractual obligations – including fulfilling the many patient claims that have not been paid to date.
We are not aware of any billing errors concerning any of our patients. SageWest maintains ethical and compliant billing practices across our entire health system, and we work collaboratively with third parties to provide the right services that best meet the healthcare needs of our communities. We have many payors and health plans that we do business with, and to our knowledge, we do not have systemic billing errors or irregularities.
We continue to have ongoing discussions with the Eastern Shoshone Business Council in the hopes of achieving a resolution to these matters and also strengthening the long-term partnership between our organizations.