Steward Healthcare's financial problems, which have exploded to the surface in recent weeks, could prompt lawmakers to take action to “ensure this never happens again,” according to the top Senate Democrat.
Senate President Karen Spilka said she believes the Healey administration has primary authority to weather the potential disruption and that the hospital is most concerned about “patient safety and continued patient access to care.” said.
The uncertainty in the system that runs Massachusetts' nine hospitals raises questions about why the problem got so bad with little public warning and how policymakers can prevent it from happening again. is causing it.
Spilka told NBC10 Boston's @Issue that one potential area for reform could be the Health Policy Commission.
“That was created a little over 10 years ago, but things have changed,” Spilka said in an interview that aired Sunday. “Our health care system has changed, and private equity is playing a role in it. Can we make some changes to prevent something like this from happening again?”
Spilka said he would like to work with the House on the matter, but added: “We haven't had any discussions yet.”
Asked by co-host Sue O'Connell if the public can expect a Senate hearing on the topic, Spilka said, “There could be a public hearing or a joint hearing. .I think it would be good to work with the House of Commons on this issue.”
“But it's a whole new day in medicine to listen to experts, so what happened here?” she added. “What could we have done? Could we have done anything to prevent something like this along the way? What do we need to do to prevent this from happening to other health care providers? mosquito?”
Most elected officials appear to have been blindsided by revelations in mid-January, driven in large part by a report in the Boston Globe, that Mr. Steward was on the brink of financial crisis. Regulators have reprimanded stewards in the past for failing to submit required hospital financial data for review, but have stepped up their criticism of the for-profit system in recent weeks.
The state Department of Public Health has had investigators make daily on-site visits to the three Steward hospitals since Wednesday to examine staffing levels, daily patient surveys, and supplies and services provided.
In 2010, Steward spoke to then-Attorney General Martha Coakley about a plan to buy nonprofit hospitals in Brighton, Brockton, Dorchester, Methuen, Norwood and Fall River from the faith-based Caritas health system for $495 million. gained support. Coakley's office said at the time that while a “not-for-profit to for-profit conversion” comes with risks, the potential dangers “are outweighed by the aforementioned risks of not conducting the transaction.”
Steward officials argued that structural issues and the concentration of resources in larger academic medical centers are fueling their struggles. Community hospitals like those run by Steward typically serve a higher percentage of Medicare and Medicaid patients, and these public plans tend to have lower reimbursement rates than private insurers.
On Friday, Steward's leadership announced that it had agreed to key terms for “bridging funding” that would help stabilize operations. Executive Vice President Dr. Michael Karam said Steward has no plans to close the hospital but may eventually consider transferring the facility to a new owner.
“The latest funding announcement gives us a little bit of a reprieve, but I think this is an issue that we're going to have to work on for several more weeks and months,” Driscoll said.
Dr. Barbara Spivak, president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, said the bridging funding “temporarily avoids catastrophic consequences for an already strained health care infrastructure” and urged leaders to “provide a sustainable plan for Steward Hospital.” “We are looking for a new plan.” She specifically called on HPC to “thoroughly investigate and monitor future transactions involving Massachusetts stewards.”
“Our patients, especially those who live in historically underserved communities and rely on stewards for their health needs, need access to care and access to care to prevent further exacerbation of health disparities. They require ongoing care,” Spivak said.
Even before Mr. Steward's specific problems became clear, experts and policymakers were increasingly warning about pressure points in the health care industry. The latest annual cost trends report warns that prices and costs are “moving in the wrong direction,” as health care providers across the state continue to struggle with staffing and capacity shortages, and HPC officials In December, he said private equity investment in the healthcare sector was particularly “wanted.” We have begun to move towards some kind of policy reform. ”
HPC regulators are asking lawmakers to grant them additional powers to curb some of the problems they see, but Democrats in the House and Senate will leave concrete recommendations untouched. , have not been able to share the same understanding.
The Senate approved three consecutive prescription drug pricing bills last year, but none of the previous versions made it to the House. Meanwhile, House Speaker Ron Mariano has long considered a measure to expand oversight of large hospital expansions into areas served by community hospitals, but the idea has not gained traction in the Senate.
Last spring, Mariano said he would support actions to strengthen the HPC to provide it with “relevant professional experience” to deal with the current situation and allow experts to scrutinize the pharmaceutical industry more closely. Stated. He also indicated at the beginning of the year, before the Steward crisis surfaced, that he planned to introduce a series of bills this year to address a variety of health care issues.
“The entire health care system is still reeling from the effects of the pandemic. Hospital emergency departments remain overcrowded, and health care providers from primary care clinics to entire acute care hospitals face closures, bankruptcies, and consolidation. “Health care is becoming increasingly unaffordable for people and the average Massachusetts family,” he said in January.
