Elected officials cite antitrust concerns over Steward-Optum Deal
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Carney Hospital in Dorchester, a Steward Health Care-owned facility
Elected officials are voicing skepticism about a planned deal to sell Steward Health Care's physician network to for-profit insurer Optum, questioning whether it might do more harm than good as Massachusetts grapples with fallout from Steward's financial upheaval.
A day after regulators announced they would review a potential sale of Stewardship Health to Optum Care, House Speaker Ron Mariano said the transaction could "cause further disruption" and requires intense scrutiny.
"The proposed sale of Steward's physician group to Optum has the potential to significantly impact the competitiveness of the health care market in Massachusetts, and cause further disruption during a period of acute instability in the health care system," Mariano said Wednesday.
Steward, a for-profit, private equity-backed system that operates several hospitals in Massachusetts, has become one of the biggest boogeymen for policymakers since its financial woes burst into public view in January.
The company filed paperwork with the Health Policy Commission on Tuesday signaling plans to sell its physician network to Optum Care, a subsidiary of the national giant UnitedHealth Group. Parties did not disclose financial details, but the sale could provide relief for Steward amid financial precarity, or serve as a precursor to offloading hospitals down the road.
Steward, whose leaders have faced calls to leave the state from Gov. Maura Healey and others, noted in one of its filings that it expects to disclose transactions concerning "certain of its acute care hospitals and other provider operations in the next 12 months."
The sale of Steward's physician network will not proceed until the HPC and other regulators complete a review of the proposal, according to HPC Executive Director David Seltz.
"As described in the notice, this is a significant proposed change involving two large medical providers, both in Massachusetts and nationally, with important implications for the delivery and cost of health care across Massachusetts," Seltz said on Tuesday. "Details of the proposal will be reviewed by the HPC to examine potential impacts on health care costs, quality, access, and equity."
Mariano, who has voiced his disdain for Steward and its decision to shutter a hospital in his hometown of Quincy, called on the HPC to consider the "vulnerability" of Steward's remaining hospitals and a federal antitrust probe as it examines the deal.
The Wall Street Journal reported last month that the U.S. Department of Justice is conducting an antitrust investigation into UnitedHealth Group.
"The HPC's statutory authority to review the health care impacts of this transaction should not delay state and federal antitrust authorities from doing their own rigorous review as we all seek to protect patient access and affordability, communities, employees, and the overall health care system," Mariano said.
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren said that Optum already covers more than 10 percent of doctors in the country, making it the nation's largest employer of physicians. The deal, she said, "raises significant antitrust concerns."
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