Valley Hospital : Consumers Skeptical of Horizon’s Motives

August 10th 2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Valley Hospital continues to raise objections to Horizon’s OMNIA two tier hospital rating designations .

In and email Valley Pointed out , “Horizon’s OMNIA plan set up a two-tiered system that rewards some hospitals with Tier 1 designations and essentially punishes others by designating them as Tier 2 and imposing higher copays on many patients. Horizon’s scheme uses huge hospital systems as its Tier 1 base, while excluding some of the state’s best and highest-rated hospitals.

There was no public process or known criteria by which hospitals and physicians were ultimately assigned to a tier, nor is there any public path to move to another tier. And Horizon still refuses to publicly divulge its mysterious selection process.

It’s no wonder why a recent poll indicated that voters and Horizon customers indicated strong trust concerns with New Jersey’s insurance giant. According to an Anzalone, Liszt, and Grove research poll,1 61 percent agree that Horizon “puts profits ahead of people,” while 55 percent of Horizon’s customers who were surveyed also agreed. In fact, 57 percent of those polled also agreed that Horizon “has too much influence and power in New Jersey,” while 61 percent of Horizon’s own customers who were surveyed said the same thing.”