{"id":1008466,"date":"2026-08-18T11:00:28","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T11:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1008466\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T11:00:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T11:00:28","slug":"jackson-hospital-bcbs-alabama-agree-to-new-reimbursement-rates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1008466\/","title":{"rendered":"Jackson Hospital, BCBS Alabama agree to new reimbursement rates"},"content":{"rendered":"

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA<\/a>) – Jackson Hospital President and CEO John Quinlivan confirmed Monday that the hospital and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama have officially concluded negotiations a new agreement in which the financially-troubled hospital will get higher reimbursement rates from the insurer.<\/p>\n

Jackson, which remains in bankruptcy proceedings, employs about 1,800 people and serves patients across the River Region.<\/p>\n

Jackson and BCBS Alabama, in early July, announced a \u201cverbal\u201d agreement<\/b><\/a>. Quinlivan said the agreement that was signed did not give Jackson everything that it wanted, but that it was an improvement to what it previously had. <\/p>\n

Exact numbers were not released.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cBlue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama is pleased Jackson Hospital will remain open and continue serving the Montgomery community and River Region.<\/p>\n

For months, Blue Cross has worked with hospital leadership and other stakeholders to keep their doors open and provide patients access to the care they need. Throughout this process, our focus has remained on supporting our members and the community.<\/p>\n

We appreciate the efforts of all parties involved in reaching this outcome and look forward to continuing our partnership in support of the health and well-being of our customers, the River Region and Alabamians.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Jackson has previously received financial commitments from city, county and state governments.<\/p>\n

After the announcement, Gov. Kay Ivey issued a statement about the developments.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cOnly weeks away from its 80thanniversary, Jackson Hospital is reborn today stronger and ever more committed to delivering the most trusted medical care to the Capital City and River Region. <\/p>\n

Jackson Hospital\u2019s agreement to emerge from bankruptcy and keep its doors open to offer a wide range of care, including emergency services, is the direct result of a resolute partnership between state and local officials and hospital leadership. <\/p>\n

I want to personally thank Jackson Healthcare CEO Rick Jackson for his commitment to preserving this historic lifeline that so many depend upon every day.\u00a0 This agreement to save Jackson Hospital is monumental good news for Montgomery and all of Central Alabama!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Jackson Hospital Board of Directors approved a new four-year contract with the insurer today, which secures higher reimbursement rates for the facility. The deal will officially become effective once the hospital successfully exits bankruptcy court proceedings.<\/p>\n

Jackson Hospital CEO John Quinlivan expressed a mixture of relief and realism following the board\u2019s approval, acknowledging that while the agreement wasn\u2019t a perfect resolution, it represents a crucial lifeline for the institution.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody gave up,\u201d Quinlivan said. \u201cThere were plenty of times that we were extremely frustrated, and I went home some nights convinced that we were going to have to close this hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quinlivan noted that getting to this point \u201ctook much longer than any of us expected\u201d and was \u201cfraught with uncertainty.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur rates are significantly better,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

\u201cAgain, they\u2019re not everything we asked for, and not everything we felt we needed, but they are materially better. They certainly put us in a position where we ought to be able to do the right things and save this hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the hospital staff, the announcement brings a welcome reprieve after months of operational and financial stress. <\/p>\n

Brian Thomas, Jackson Hospital\u2019s director of rehabilitation who has been with the facility for nearly three decades, said the pressure on employees has been unprecedented.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, it\u2019s been stressful, I\u2019ll be honest… but it was well worth the wait, well worth the endurance, the challenge of it,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cA tremendous weight has been lifted off our shoulders, so we look forward to rebuilding.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the terms locked in, Quinlivan stated that the hospital\u2019s primary operational goal now shifts toward financial stability.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to stop the bleeding, stop the losses,\u201d Quinlivan said. \u201cThat will be job one for us operationally.\u201d<\/p>\n

The contract resolution comes seven weeks after Jackson Hospital first announced a verbal agreement on social media. <\/p>\n

According to Quinlivan, the intervening weeks were spent hashing out legal language rather than core terms.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe spent the last seven weeks really hashing through wording stuff that honestly I don\u2019t think was that material,\u201d Quinlivan said. \u201cThe key elements of this agreement, we negotiated, we agreed to, seven weeks ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quinlivan expressed deep gratitude toward city, county, and state leaders, emphasizing that state intervention was vital to the hospital\u2019s survival over the past year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Governor Kay Ivey had not stepped in, Jackson would have closed one year ago,\u201d Quinlivan said, while also praising his staff and physicians for their perseverance. \u201cJackson is a vitally important asset to not only Montgomery, but Central Alabama and the rest of the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama expressed satisfaction with the outcome, saying they are \u201cpleased Jackson will remain open and serving the Montgomery community and River Region.\u201d<\/p>\n

The final execution of both the insurance agreement and associated state funding remains contingent on Jackson Hospital successfully exiting bankruptcy. Hospital leadership filed the necessary paperwork to exit bankruptcy today, and Quinlivan stated he feels highly confident the court will approve the transition.<\/p>\n

Not reading this story on the WSFA News App? Get news alerts FASTER and FREE in the Apple App Store<\/a> and the Google Play Store<\/a>! <\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 WSFA. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – Jackson Hospital President and CEO John Quinlivan confirmed Monday that the hospital and Blue…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":459167,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[35],"tags":[12955,164175,210,1141,1142,6478,364983,154560,45854,26979,67,132,68,53737,53736],"class_list":["post-1008466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-alabama","tag-blue-cross-blue-shield","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-hospital","tag-hospital-bankruptcy","tag-jackson-hospital","tag-livestream","tag-montgomery","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-wfsa","tag-wsfa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1008466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1008466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1008466\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1008466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1008466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1008466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}