The decision by two Lawrence doctor offices not to join the Lawrence school district’s new provider network Sept. 1 left hundreds of school employees scrambling for new doctors or paying more for health care.

About 125 district employees at an insurance forum Thursday in Free State High School expressed disappointment that Coventry Health Care of Bethesda, Md., wasn’t able to sign up the same Lawrence physician groups that were in place when the district was with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas.

Teachers and the school board agreed this spring to cut premium costs by leaving Blue Cross.

The Cotton-O’Neil Clinic and Reed Medical Group, both of Lawrence, rejected proposals to align with Coventry. More than 250 school district employees and dependents were patients of these practices.

“I know there have been a lot of concerns,” Barb Lynch, the district’s benefits director, said at the start of the meeting.

Though there were many questions about prescription coverage through Coventry, much of the employees’ anger focused on the shrinking physician network available to policyholders.

John Bremmerman, an Overland Park insurance consultant hired by the district, said Coventry had made an effort to get Cotton-O’Neil and Reed Medical Group on board.

There was never a guarantee that every doctor group in Lawrence would participate, he said.

“I believe that Coventry has met their commitment  to getting as many doctors in as they could,” he said.

Cindy Hasler, administrator at Reed Medical Group, said in an interview that Coventry’s paperwork requirements would have been a costly burden.

“We didn’t want to lose our school district employees,” she said.

Allyson Miles, Coventry’s group representative to the district, said the door still was open to practices that wanted to enter the network.

“We’re happy to talk with any nonparticipating provider to see if they’re willing to participate in our network,” she said.

Bremmerman said he wouldn’t be surprised if both practices reconsidered after looking at financial implications of staying on the sidelines.

“I believe there is a strong possibility as time goes on that we’ll see the network grow,” he said.

He said the district saved $1 million by going with Coventry and dropping its self-insurance plan managed by Blue Cross.

Last year, the district had 1,150 individual policies and 400 family policies. Lynch said she didn’t know whether enrollment in the district’s policies had declined with the switch to Coventry.