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Patient First, which operates nine urgent and primary care medical centers in the Richmond area and dozens of facilities in the Mid-Atlantic, is no longer accepting some Anthem health insurance plans for payment.

Patient First stopped accepting, as of Feb. 2, new patients who are members of Anthem, HealthKeepers and out-of-state BlueCross BlueShield plans except CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Existing patients with those plans who have been treated in the past at Patient First will continue to be able to be seen.

“For years, Patient First has worked cooperatively with Anthem to expand access to convenient, cost-effective medical care for Anthem members,” a post on the Patient First website said.

“However, as we continue to see routine increases in our cost to provide patients with medical care, Anthem insists on reducing its reimbursement rates for these services to 2012 levels,” the post said. “We have been working to resolve this situation for more than two years and only reached this difficult decision after months and months of unproductive discussions with Anthem.”

Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of Virginia spokesman Scott Golden said the negotiations with Patient First are ongoing.