Elected officials are voicing skepticism about Steward Healthcare's plan to sell its physician network to for-profit insurer Optum, as Massachusetts grapples with the fallout from Steward's financial turmoil. They question whether it could do more harm than good.
A day after regulators announced they would consider the potential sale of Stewardship Health to Optum Care, House Speaker Ron Mariano said the deal could “cause further disruption” and would require intense scrutiny. said.
“The proposed sale of Steward's Physician Group to Optum could have a material impact on the competitiveness of Massachusetts' health care market and cause further disruption at a time of severe health care instability,” Mariano said Wednesday. There is,” he said.
Steward, a for-profit, private equity-backed system that operates multiple hospitals in Massachusetts, has been one of policymakers' biggest culprits since its financial woes became public in January. It is one.
The company filed documents Tuesday with the Health Policy Commission reporting its plans to sell its physician network to Optum Care, a subsidiary of national giant UnitedHealth Group. Although the parties did not disclose financial details, the sale could be a relief for Steward amid financial uncertainty or portend a future relief to the hospital.
Stewards, whose leaders face demands from Gov. Maura Healey and others to leave the state, said in one of the filings that a deal related to “certain acute care hospitals and other health care delivery operations within the next 12 months” He said he plans to disclose.
The sale of Steward's physician network cannot proceed until HPC and other regulators complete their review of the proposal, HPC Executive Director David Seltz said.
“As described in the notice, this is a significant proposed change that involves two major health care providers in Massachusetts and nationally, and will impact health care delivery and costs across Massachusetts,” Seltz said Tuesday. It will have an important impact.” “The details of the proposal will be scrutinized by the HPC to examine its potential impact on health care costs, quality, access and equity.”
Mariano has expressed disdain for Steward and his decision to close the hospital in his hometown of Quincy, telling HPC that the hospital's “vulnerabilities” and federal monopoly that Steward left behind when considering the deal. They called for consideration of an investigation into the ban.
The Wall Street Journal reported last month that the U.S. Department of Justice was conducting an antitrust investigation into UnitedHealth Group.
“HPC's legal authority to review the health care impacts of this transaction is important as we all seek to protect patient access and affordability, our communities, our employees, and our entire health care system. We should not delay state and federal antitrust authorities from conducting their own rigorous review,” Mariano said.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Optum already covers more than 10% of the nation's physicians, making it the nation's largest physician employer. She said the deal “raises serious antitrust concerns.”
“After years of gross profit and mismanagement, Steward's latest plan raises even more serious questions about the future of Massachusetts' health care system,” Warren said in a statement. “My top priority is to ensure the continued operation of Steward Hospital in Massachusetts. However, I am confident that Steward leadership has no credibility and that this sale will not be in the best interests of patients or healthcare professionals, nor will Steward Hospital in Massachusetts continue to operate.” This would be a terrible mistake on Steward's part.'' Steward will once again be allowed to leave, ransacking Massachusetts hospitals. ”
A U.S. Senate subcommittee is scheduled to meet in Boston next week to investigate the influence of for-profit companies in the health care industry, and delegates will have their eyes squarely on Steward.
Warren and Sen. Ed Markey have repeatedly called on Steward Healthcare CEO Ralph de la Torre to take questions at public hearings, but to no avail. It seems so.
“On March 7, we wrote to you about these troubling transactions and the role of stewards in this growing crisis, but almost three weeks later you have not responded to us. ” they wrote in a letter to Delatorre published Tuesday. . “Investing in and operating a health system includes a responsibility to the public, and stewards must answer for the current fiscal insecurity and its impact on access to health care.”
If HPC regulators determine that Stewardship Health's sale to Optum will have a material impact on healthcare costs and markets, they could pursue a broader “cost and market impact review.” But it's unclear how strongly they can amend the proposal.
Markey said in a statement on Tuesday that “Mr. Steward has recklessly taken on large amounts of debt and as a result…hospitals in Massachusetts and across the country continue to be plunged into financial crisis. “We have to get rid of anxiety,” he said. “With this announcement, Optum must demonstrate that it can fulfill its even greater responsibility to maintain and protect access to health care in the commonwealth, and it must do so by managing costs and putting patients and providers first. I hope you will.”
The agency's leaders have been asking Congress for years to give it more power, largely to no avail. Seltz said at a state legislative hearing on private equity in health care earlier this week that other states have given regulators the power to deny or impose conditions on health care deals. Ta.
“That's not something HPC currently has the authority to do,” he said Monday. “Our process ultimately results in an actual public report.”
Steve Walsh, president of the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association, said the sale of Steward's physician network “should center patient needs and help stabilize the Commonwealth's already fragile health care system, not further damage it.” Ta.
“We believe a transaction of this size requires a rigorous and transparent approval process that invokes the best oversight tools in Massachusetts. It’s the same coach,” Walsh said.
