{Lexington, Kentucky}...Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Karl Forester ordered Coventry Cares to continue its contract with Appalachian Regional Healthcare through November 1st so Medicaid patients in eastern Kentucky will have time to decide whether to change their managed care organization. Coventry planned to sever its contract with ARH on May 4th, but the hospital chain filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent the termination. Coventry agreed to continue its contract until June 30th while negotiating with ARH, but negotiations stalled. About 25,000 eastern Kentucky Medicaid patients are affected by the ruling. Michael Murphy, president and CEO of Coventry Cares of Kentucky, told state lawmakers Wednesday that the company has lost $50 million in the first quarter of 2012 in Kentucky. He said the company is trying to mitigate those losses by renegotiating contracts with health care providers.
