BMI Healthcare has defended its letter to Bupa patients about the dispute between the two organisations over use of private hospitals.
The hospital group said its most serious concern was with patient care and that it felt the move was necessary to "clarify" what Bupa's actions meant for patients.
As COVER reported yesterday, Bupa described a letter sent to its insured patients by BMI Healthcare as "misleading, defamatory and false".
This letter had followed Bupa's initial move to de-list 12 BMI hospitals as part of the insurers ongoing attempts to control private medical insurance costs.
BMI Healthcare, told COVER its reasons for sending out the letter.
"BMI Healthcare is concerned foremost with caring for patients," it said.
"We are working hard to ensure that our patients will have both continuity and choice of care from 1 January 2012.
"However, it is highly unusual in our experience for an insurer to involve the media and consultants in on-going commercial discussions."
It continued: "Since the move by BUPA to de-list 12 of our hospitals will impact directly on some of our patients and the communications in the media had the potential to cause confusion for some of them, BMI Healthcare felt it necessary to contact patients to clarify our understanding of what Bupa's actions mean for them."
Dr Natalie Jane Macdonald, managing director of Bupa Health and Wellbeing, previously said the letter sent by BMI to patients was "shocking".
"We are in the process of negotiating with BMI and to draw our members into this when they are sick and to make misleading, defamatory and false statements in the letter is callous and cynical.
"Our lawyers have written to BMI," she added.
