Catholic hospital CEO and Horizon doctor debate Horizon health insurance (Listen)

You'd think everyone would be happy about paying lower insurance premiums, but Horizon's plan to tier hospitals to reduce health care costs has many customers and politicians agitated.

CEO of Holy Name Hospital Mike Maron called in to share his perspective on why Catholic hospitals were excluded from Horizon's top tier selection process. Dr. Minalkumar Patel from Horizon then shared his response to the claim of religious discrimination, and explained the criteria for Tier 1 selection.

What are your concerns about Horizon's health insurance plan?

Jerry, who called from the Parkway, said the grading criteria seems like it judges hospitals on their ability to keep people out of the hospital, which he sees as unfair.

Rose from South Brunswick said she doesn't think hospitals were excluded from Horizon's plan because they're Catholic. Rather, she said, they were left out because many are located in urban regions where the high rate of people using the emergency room for primary care will cause them to go bankrupt servicing the poor.