By: Timothy Chipp
1/14/2020
A $21 million lawsuit by Knox County Hospital District against Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas is headed to arbitration.
Federal District Judge Reed O’Connor issued the ruling in December, forcing the two battling entities to conclude the majority of the matter outside of court.
Knox County Hospital District’s termination claim was exempted from arbitration, though. Once the two have concluded the process, O’Connor ruled, they’ll return to court to finish the process.
Knox County viewed the decision as a positive, saying through a news release Monday that O’Connor’s ruling leaves open the possibility of returning to court if a solution cannot be found.
“The judge has made it clear that he wants this matter resolved in a timely fashion, and we will move quickly to meet his order,” Kelly Dawson, attorney for the hospital district, said in the release. “We’re pleased to have the option of coming back to court if we are unable to resolve some of the serious financial hardships that have been imposed on the Knox County Hospital.