Insurers and large health systems share blame for the high costs of healthcare, policy analyst Paul Keckley, PhD, said in an Aug. 21 article on his website.
The recent formation of Better Solutions for Healthcare, a network focused on rising healthcare costs, is, however, a line in the sand for large nonprofit systems that are increasingly on the defensive because of mounting public criticism, according to the article.
The growing corporatization of U.S. healthcare means the system is heavily in favor of "bigger is better," Dr. Keckley wrote. Large systems and their boards can expect increased scrutiny in areas of executive compensation and opaque mergers and acquisitions transactions.
Both BSH and larger health systems will pull out the stops to win favor with elected officials while facing growing pushback in Congress and state legislatures, he wrote. And unless special interests are subordinated to the needs of the greater good, such battles will only get more intense.
"It's not the war to end all healthcare wars," he wrote. "That war is on the horizon."
Read the full article here.