General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., April 25, 2024
The Big Story: Hospital Lobbyists Likely To Swarm Leg Hall Today.
There’s only one bill of note on either Agenda today. But, since it’s a stick in the eye of hospital practices, it’s likely to swell the temporary population in Dover today.
…creates the Diamond State Hospital Cost Review Board, which will be responsible for an annual review of hospital budgets and related financial information. The Board will have 7 members: 6 appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate, and the Executive Director of the Delaware Healthcare Association. This Act creates a requirement that hospitals submit yearly budgets, audited financial statements, and related financial information to the Board for review. Where a hospital fails to meet the state’s budget benchmark for increases in hospital costs it is required to engage with the Board on a performance improvement plan. If the Board and the hospital cannot agree on an improvement plan or where the hospital fails to successfully implement a performance plan, the Board may require the hospital to have its future budget approved by the Board.
Only two legislative sponsors, Longhurst and Sen. Townsend. Bill was assigned to, and released from, the House Administration Committee, Our PAL Val’s committee. I honestly don’t know whether this is a good bill or not, so I’m gonna listen to the floor discussion today. I don’t know to what extent government should be able to dictate hospital practices and fees. I expect it to be lengthy. I don’t know whether there will be a roll call, at least not today.
Here is yesterday’s Session Activity Report. I could find nothing of note.
Today’s Senate Agenda consists of a Consent Agenda. Consent Agendas generally consist of bills viewed as being non-controversial. Should any senator object to a bill being on a Consent Agenda, the bill is automatically removed.
One other bill of note on today’s House Agenda. HS1/HB 302 (Bolden):
HB 302 requires all group, blanket, and individual health insurance policies to cover prostate screening for men at risk of prostate cancer. This Substitute bill broadens the definition of “prostate screening” to include any medically necessary and clinically appropriate method for the detection and diagnosis of prostate cancer, including a digital rectal exam and prostate specific antigen test, and associated laboratory work. This Substitute bill also clarifies the ages at which prostate screenings must be covered, consistent with the American Cancer Society guidelines, as follows: (1) Age 50 for men at average risk of developing prostate cancer; (2) Age 45 for men at high risk of developing prostate cancer, including African American men and men who have a first degree relative diagnosed with prostate cancer; and (3) Age 40 for men at even higher risk for prostate cancer, including men who have more than one first degree relative diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Good bill.
BTW, still no legislation forestalling the retired legislator windfall.
For what it’s worth i clicked through to the original hospital bill and it’s sponsored by more than half of the whole legislature. I think they just don’t copy all them into the substitutes quickly (and this sub seems like it was filed very recently) but doubt they lost much support. Maybe Paradee (who opposed prior health reform efforts but may have seen the light now that he knows what the system costs) but not all 27 other cosponsors I don’t think?
Good catch.
Makes sense.
For crying out loud, this history of Hospital oversight should easily convince you this out of control industry seriously needs restoration of government regulation.
to Daniel.Short@delaware.gov
I recently read of your criticism of HB 350 creating a new state regulatory framework to oversee Hospital Cost and Spending. I am a 10 year resident of Wilmington an am appalled that a person of your age does not study or be guided to history regarding hospital costs and the history of inflation in that sector of our economy. But, you’re Republican instincts regarding regulation does not surprise me.
I spent 15 years of my career as a healthcare marketing consultant prior to retiring. I saw an opportunity to assist mostly not for profit/public hospitals to compete with for profit hospitals as Ronald Reagan, likely one of your heroes, deregulated hospitals financial oversight by states. Prior to this disastrous Reagan move, healthcare costs were moving pretty much at the same inflationary rate as the rest of the economy. After, decades of massive healthcare/hospital cost increases plagued consumers/patients, employers and insurance companies. Your guy caused this. Let me give you history as a person in his 60’s must and should remember.
Many if not most states had oversight over hospital investments in expansion, new services and new facilities requiring what were called “certificates of need” to justify such investments/costs. There were many consultants I knew in that field who provided both hospitals and state agencies with “demand studies” examining the need for such expansion. That ended with Reagan. And hospitals went on a rampage expanding facilities beyond need, adding unneeded services, buying new technology much of which went underutilized costing their costs and billing to soar.
Hospitals, for profit and not for profit alike departed from a social service model to a competitive marketing model, adding sales staff to recruit “business” from medical practices, advertising campaigns and the process of buying medical practices to feed into their networks. Large consolidates of hospital networks emerged and mergers reducing competition and exercising strong influence over legislatures. All of this added to healthcare inflation.
To counteract this, such organizations as HMO’s emerged from insurance companies trying to emphasize proactive consumer health behavior and wellness. Most for naught as poor health and obesity increased. Mortality rates and infection in hospitals began to increase with cost inflation.
So, Representative Short, deregulation is a major cause for the healthcare crisis we now experience. You are either willfully ignorant on this subject or just immorally uniformed. This attempt to restore us to healthcare sanity is both reasonable and necessary.
Regretting your malfeasance of office to help your constituents to have better lives.
Does anybody know–did the House not do ANYTHING today?
They are still debating per the livestream
Wow!
Just passed Val’s hospital bill, 21-16.
Think it’s gonna look a lot different when the Senate gets done with it.
As it got into the fourth or fifth hour of debate, the democrats did some special rule where they can have a bunch of members stand up and call for an end to debate (on hospital bill). I agree there were not minds to be changed in that room, and essentially it was a filibuster by opposition, but it wouldn’t have harmed the passage so not sure how that will impact the rest of the year. People on both sides seem not happy that happened. Should’ve saved that trick for the abortion bill
We have a spot open on staff for the likes of you…
Did anyone see Our PAL Val’s awkward exchange with Bryan Shupe? First of all, the Botox mouth makes her not even able to talk like a normal functioning human, which she isn’t one anyway. And, she pretended like she didn’t know he was talking about the House Health Committee, instead of DHSS. What a moron and total embarassment for our party and state. Horse mouth has got to go.