After an 11th-hour standoff over payment rates, Minnesota Eye Consultants appears to have capitulated and has inked a new contract with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. The state's biggest independent eye practice had said it would leave the Blue Cross network by the end of December because the insurer cut payments by 10 percent last summer. Minnesota Eye's president, Candace Simerson, said both sides came to an agreement Dec. 29. She declined to disclose the terms of the new contract, citing confidentiality agreements.
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The St. Paul Downtown Alliance filled vacant retail space by setting up businesses with free six-month leases.
