A group of Massachusetts healthcare providers have written to Attorney General Martha Coakley and Deputy Attorney General Christopher Barry-Smith to express concern about an agreement allowing Boston-based Partners HealthCare to acquire at least three more hospitals in the state, according to a report from The Boston Globe.
The group — which includes executives from Atrius Health in Newton, Burlington-based Lahey Health, Tufts Medical Center in Boston and Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center in Boston — wrote the attorney general's agreement with Partners could solidify the health system's advantage in the market and lead to higher healthcare costs, according to the report.
Last month, Ms. Coakley's office struck the agreement with Partners allowing the organization to acquire Hallmark Health System in Melrose, Mass., and South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, Mass. In its deal with the state, Partners will acquire Hallmark and South Shore, but it will have to abide by several rules, included a payer contracting restriction. For the next seven to 10 years, health insurers will able to negotiate contracts with separate components of Partners instead of the system alone.
Partners will also not be able to contract with payers on behalf of its nonowned physician group affiliates, and it can't raise prices at any of its hospitals or provider groups above inflation for the next six-and-a-half years. In a news release, Ms. Coakley said the agreement "fundamentally reduces the negotiating power of Partners for the next 10 years to better control health costs for families and businesses, and help level the playing field in the market."
The coalition of providers has recommended that Ms. Coakley's office submit the agreement to the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission for a market impact and cost review and open the deal up to public scrutiny before it's filed in court for approval.
Brad Puffer, a spokesman for the attorney general's office, said Ms. Coakley is open to unspecified public comment, although he defended the agreement with Partners, according to the report.
Last year, a state analysis found that Partners dominated the Massachusetts market, receiving 31 percent of all commercial payer money for acute-care services in 2012.
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