Health insurer Aetna said it’s still negotiating a new reimbursement contract with Barnabas Health, the state’s largest hospital network, and both sides said they hope to reach a deal.Aetna, however, confirmed it has begun notifying New Jersey customers that they may need to find new health care providers if the two sides can’t reach an agreement before their current contract expires March 1.



This is the latest example of the ongoing battle between insurance companies and health care providers over reimbursements. Earlier this week, Horizon and Christ Hospital in Jersey City were unable to reach an agreement.



Susan Millerick, spokeswoman for Aetna, said about 18,000 of its customers use the Barnabas network of seven hospitals across the state. She said state law requires health insurers give their members notice prior to the expiration of a contract with a health care provider.



“Aetna is working hard to reach an agreement” with Barnabas, Millerick said. “We hope to keep the system in our network and believe we can reach that goal through our continuing discussions.”



Barnabas spokeswoman Ellen Greene said, “Barnabas Health and Aetna are currently in contract negotiations. Therefore Barnabas Health cannot comment on relations with Aetna at this time. We value our relationship with Aetna and our mutual customers and we hope to have a mutually acceptable in solution the near future.”



The Barnabas hospitals are Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston; Newark Beth Israel Medical Center; Clara Maass Medical Center in Belleville; Jersey City Medical Center, Monmouth Medical Center, Long Branch; Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus, Lakewood; and Community Medical Center in Toms River.



Barnabas and the Robert Wood Johnson Health System confirmed last month that they are exploring a partnership of some kind: if the two merge, they will be the largest health care system in the state with about $4.5 billion in revenue.



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