A Delaware lawmaker is looking to establish a hospital cost review board, but the legislation faces opposition from health systems in the state, Delaware Public Radio reported March 27.
The proposed legislation would create a five-member board that would start reviewing and approving hospital budgets in 2026, according to the report. Three of the members would be appointed by the governor, one by the speaker of the House and one by the president pro tempore of the Senate.
The bill's sponsor, House Speaker Valerie Longhurst, said the legislation is important "because it will open the transparency, and we will be able to see where those costs are coming from and where we need to go from there," according to the report.
The legislation is modeled off a similar structure in place in Vermont, but the Delaware Healthcare Association argued that "Vermont's quality of care deteriorated over the years that this model has been in place," according to the report.
Representatives of some of Delaware's largest health systems spoke out in opposition of the bill, including from Newark-based ChristianaCare, Dover-based Bayhealth and Lewes-based Beebe Health, according to the report.
"Our board members are closest to what our community needs are in the healthcare system, and our clinicians who are closest and the truest subject matter experts on what our needs are from a technology, growth, strategy perspective," Bayhealth President and CEO Terry Murphy said, according to Delaware Public Radio. "They are the ones who know best."