Blue Cross Sues Scranton After City Defaults On $2 Million Note

Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Scranton seeking $2.05 million owed by the city in a promissory note from last fall.

The city executed a note on Oct. 27 promising to pay Blue Cross $2 million in unpaid bills by Jan. 5, the lawsuit states. But the city failed to pay and that constituted a default, the lawsuit states.

As of Wednesday, no payment had yet been made and the lawsuit seeks the principal amount of $2 million as well as 5 percent interest that accrued to $58,904 from Jan. 6 to Wednesday, for a total amount sought of $2,058,904, according to the complaint.

Blue Cross has been one of the city’s largest vendors with bills that have gone unpaid under the city’s financial crisis. As such, the lawsuit was not necessarily unexpected, said Mayor Chris Doherty, adding that he is in contact regularly with Blue Cross about the situation and the firm is continuing to provide health care coverage for the city’s employees.

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Commonwealth Medical College Taken Off Probation

The Commonwealth Medical College moved a step closer to full accreditation on Thursday when it announced the national medical school accrediting body has lifted the college’s probationary status and granted it provisional accreditation.

The advance comes a year after the Liaison Committee for Medical Education placed the school on probation largely because of concerns about its financial stability.

With the new status – a rung higher than the school’s preliminary accreditation before the probation period – the accrediting body also determined that the college has the resources to expand its class size from 65 to 100 medical degree students beginning in 2013.

“This is an external statement by an accrediting body that this school is solid,” Lois Margaret Nora, M.D., the college’s interim president and dean, said. “For anyone who has any questions about permanence, this is just a major statement.”

Read more: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/commonwealth-medical-college-taken-off-probation-1.1329922