DELAWARE- The Delaware Healthcare Association is raising concerns about state oversight and rising costs after Delaware’s latest Health Care Benchmark Trend Report showed spending growth across most sectors, especially pharmacy.
“In Delaware, we pride ourselves on being a state of neighbors and being there for one another in challenging times. That time is now,” said DHA President and CEO Brian Frazee. “We face uncertainty on the national level and the likelihood of deep cuts to healthcare programs. We need a collaborative approach.”
Frazee said while the benchmark report shows growing costs, it lacked insight into “whether the increase in expenditures is focused on areas that will improve health access and outcomes in our uniquely aging and growing state.”
He praised the Delaware Health Care Commission for “recognizing the shortcomings of the current benchmark report and the need for better data."
DHA also took aim at House Bill 350, a law that allows a state-run board to access hospital budgets and strategic plans, and potentially step in if spending exceeds benchmarks.
“Delaware’s nonprofit hospitals are the only ones that are being held accountable to this arbitrary metric,” Frazee said. “If you control the budget, you control the hospital.”
He added, “HB 350 was modeled off Vermont’s failed hospital control board… It’s why no other state in the country is looking to Vermont as a model for healthcare policy.”
“There was no stakeholder process to determine what makes sense for Delaware,” Frazee said, though he expressed optimism that data-driven collaboration is still possible. “HB 350 was the wrong approach and we look forward to working with all stakeholders on real solutions.”