UHS CEO Discusses Healthcare, Tort Reform

Alan Miller, CEO King of Prussia, Pa.-based Universal Health Services, discussed his opinions on a public-plan option and the lack of tort reform measures in the current healthcare reform bills in an article in MarketWatch.

In the article, Mr. Miller, who was interviewed prior to recent developments in healthcare reform which may remove the public-plan option from the current bill, said a public plan may "wreak havoc" with current hospital financing, as Medicare underpays for services. According to Mr. Miller, a public plan would closely mimic the system that Medicare currently follows, not only for Americans who are 65 and older.

Mr. Miller said in the article that Medicare bills hospitals at 7 percent below cost, compared to private insurers that bill at 30 percent higher than the government, offsetting the difference. He said a public-plan option would shift this dynamic, costing hospitals more money by accepting lower reimbursements.

Many economists say a private-plan option would rely on funding from customer premiums rather than taxpayer dollars, therefore making it more competitive with private insurers, according to the article.

Mr. Miller also noted the lack of tort reform in the current healthcare reform bills in the article. Reform of physician medical malpractice insurance is needed, according to Mr. Miller, especially for hard-to-recruit specialties, such as OB/GYN and orthopedics.

Read the MarketWatch article about UHS's CEO Alan Miller's thoughts on healthcare reform.