I Told Blue Cross to Shove It

It was only 12 weeks into my very first practice and I had just told the biggest insurance provider in my area to shove it.

I was fed up with their BS.

“How can they be in business?” I thought. “How can they treat providers that way and get away with it?”

(I was young and naive.)

“What am I gonna do now?” I thought to myself after realizing what I had just done. “How am I going to get patients now?”

In 1997, everyone used their insurance (and co-pays were nonexistent). No one paid cash; It wasn’t even a thought.

And here I am completely severed from the one plan that everyone seemed to have.

What was I gonna do?

“But they are evil…and ridiculous…and so completely wrong.” I said to my business partner.

I stood up for what I believed. I took a stance. But I knew this was going to cost us.

The next few new patients that called to schedule were…you guessed it, Blue Cross.

I ended up seeing them anyways because I didn’t want to lose the referral sources. How would it look if I told them I didn’t take Blue Cross?

Patients would stop coming for sure. Doctors would stop referring for sure.

So I kept seeing them for $25 per session. That’s all BC paid to non-participating providers.

This went on for a year and a half before I finally had to close my doors.

My first practice failed.

I was devastated.

My temper had cost me my first practice.

…

But I wasn’t going to give up. I will try again.

…

So I started over. Got a small space.

(Most of my equipment got repossessed so didn’t need much space anyways.)

Adamantly, I still refused to work with Blue Cross but was determined to figure out how to make it without them.

So my journey of offering my services as an Out-of-Network provider (and cash) began.