The post refers to the recent healthcare cost trends hearings in Massachusetts, specifically comments from Howard Grant, JD, MD, president and CEO of Burlington-based Lahey Health. Last week, Dr. Grant urged the state to not be “skeptical of size” and to refrain from enacting rules that would restrain the growth of health systems like Lahey.
Mr. Levy said Mr. Howard may want to create “a bookend” to Boston-based Partners HealthCare System, which “reigns over the marketplace as a near monopoly provider.” The inherent dilemma in Lahey matching Partners’ market power is that it might offset Partners but also create an effective duopoly in the Boston hospital market, says Mr. Levy.
Mr. Levy also points to some inconsistency in Massachusetts’ healthcare regulation and how a system that expands today faces more scrutiny than health systems of bygone.
“In a way, it’s unfair that Howard has to ask the state to back off, because [Partners] was able to proceed with its empire-building while the government slept, eventually extracting billions in excess revenues from consumers. Now, though, the Health Policy Commission is charged with reviewing such merger activity, adding a level of state attention that before would have only shown up as very difficult antitrust cases,” he wrote.
Mr. Levy said the HPC may be compelled to allow a growing Lahey-based ACO to be “the ferret that takes on the rat,” or that challenges Partners’ dominance. “But given the dangers of duopoly, the state will likely be left to design remedies that would be applied to the Lahey ACO if its market power grew out of whack,” he wrote.
Lahey has expanded in recent years and now includes Lahey Hospital and Medical Center, Beverly Hospital and Addison Gilbert Hospital. Another acquisition, Winchester Hospital, is in the works. Lahey is also in talks with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center to partner.
Dr. Grant will be speaking at the Becker’s Hospital Review Annual Meeting in May 2014.
More Articles on Lahey Health:
Lahey Health, Winchester Hospital Reach Formal Affiliation Agreement
Lahey Hospital Now an Atrius Health Preferred Hospital
Lahey Clinic Tacks “Hospital and Medical Center” to Name
