Up to 50,000 suddenly without access to doctors

SANTA ROSA, Calif. - The collapse of the Redwood Empire Medical Group has left up to 50,000 people in Sonoma County without access to their doctors.

The medical group, known as REMGI, is the financial conduit between doctors and their patients' insurers.

On Friday, REMGI announced it would cease providing service for Sonoma County residents covered by Aetna, Blue Cross, Blue Shield, HealthNet, One Health, PacifiCare and Prudential.

The announcement left patients wondering whether their insurers will still pay their local doctors.

''It ought to concern everyone in the community that there could be 50,000 people out there that have medical care they can't get to,'' Santa Rosa health care consultant Bob Sherrill said. ''The employers bought it, the doctors are supposed to provide it and the medical group in the middle doesn't have the money to pay for it.''

In some cases where the doctors have multiple memberships in medical groups, it may be possible for insurers to make a simple administrative change for patients.

Most health plans were confident they could switch their members to solvent medical groups

HealthNet, which insures about 12,000 people in Sonoma County, said it has relationships with several medical groups.

''We anticipate that more than 80 percent of our membership should be able to keep their primary care physician and we will work to ensure a smooth transition for any members that will need to change their doctors,'' HealthNet spokeswoman Lisa Kalustian said.

REMGI has fallen behind on an estimated $3 million owned to doctors, experts familiar with the organization told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.

Donald Van Giesen, president of REMGI, said his group would work with the health plans to move members to other medical groups.

''Like the rest of the medical groups in California, we've been struggling to stay afloat,'' Van Giesen said. ''However, the current state of managed care makes it difficult for medical groups to continue.''

Patients whose health care is provided by Kaiser and Health Plan of the Redwoods were not affected.