Hospital needs to stop holding us for ransom

Well, here we go again! The citizens of Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks and Agoura have their hospitalization plans controlled by two big corporations who cannot sit down and decide what must be done to serve the people whose lives they hold for ransom.

Los Robles Hospital (which is owned by HCA) and Blue Cross insurance company cannot agree on a contract. I don’t know who’s right or what the facts are, but I do know that the people in our community do not have a choice of hospitals. We only have one hospital in our vicinity. Columbia sold our other one.

Why should we have to go miles away if we need hospitalization? How do other hospitals in the San Fernando Valley, Simi and Ventura exist on payments they receive from Blue Cross? Are they different than Los Robles, or are they offered more? Can Blue Cross afford the estimated loss of 300,000 customers they serve in their HCA areas? How can this many people transfer into other insurance plans on such short notice? Why should we have strangers in charge of our care when we have to go to other hospitals?

There has to be a question of responsibility when you serve a community.

Our congressman, our city council members, the businesses that prosper from our community are all to be held responsible for what happens to its citizens.

Should these people all meet and have an open forum? I don’t know the answer, but I do know that we are being railroaded and short-changed when we support a community, pay our taxes and cannot go to our nearest hospital for our health care because two very well paid corporations cannot agree on what’s fair to them.

In our area it goes to the fact that we do not have a choice of hospitals. We can change insurance, but what happens if next year, or the next, it’s another insurance company that does not meet the financial criteria? We cannot keep changing insurance companies, and we’re not privileged to have a choice in nearby hospitals. We have one hospital, which has the option of whatever insurance company they deal with.

Wake up! All of you who are supposed to be looking out for the interests of our community should have the last word on the welfare of your citizens.

Where is the rationality when an insurance company or a medical facility can hold any group of citizens hostage?

Thelma Ploesch

Westlake Village