Health insurance coverage for services at local hospitals pursuing a merger has emerged as a top concern as executives for Salem Health and Santiam Hospital & Clinics spell out their plans.
The Salem and Stayton operations are seeking state approval to merge.
But 30,000 local people who rely on Regence BlueCross BlueShield to help cover medical costs have for a year faced higher costs for care from Salem Health facilities because the insurer has been out of network at Salem Health. Last March, Salem Health canceled appointments for those insured through the company, saying they didn’t want patients to continue to rack up bills…