Could Natividad or Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula (CHOMP) Merge With Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital If They Wanted To? : View From A Private Duty Caregiver Serving Carmel, Carmel Valley, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Gilroy, Gonzalez, Greenfield, Hollister, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, San Juan Bautista, Seaside And Soledad California
I've been writing on my blog about Natividad Medical Center's interest in merging with Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital. But after reading an article in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) entitled Regulators Seek to Cool Hospital-Deal Fever, I wonder if it's possible for it to actually go through. The article said that government antitrust enforcers are souring on the concept of hospital mergers after a flurry of deals which set a 10 year high of 86 transactions valued at $7.94 billion last year (according to Irving Levin Associates). Federal Trade Commission Chairman (FTC) Jon Leibowitz told the Journal that some mergers lock up local markets, leading to higher prices for patients and insurance companies. However, hospitals interviewed said the government is sending mixed messages. Health care reform encourages doctors to coordinate patient care, which is easier when they all work for the same institution. And squeezing out efficiencies in costs is easier to do when you have a large organization. "It doesn't seem like the FTC understands where the field is going and the pressures it has to be more efficient, to be leaner," Melinda Hatton, general counsel for the American Hospital Association trade group said. I agree with Ms. Hatton. Insurance companies, Medicare and Medicaid have been cutting reimbursement rates and squeezing hospitals. I don't see why hospitals would be treated like AT&T, for instance, which recently was prohibited from merging with T-Mobile because anti-trust regulators believed a merger would cost consumers more. Most of the revenue hospitals receive, in my opinion, comes from insurance companies and government payments which aren't really impacted when two facilities merge, so it's hard to believe the argument that patients would pay more when hospitals merge. There were studies in the WSJ showing insurers paid more for care in markets with less competition, but that's likely to change with the focus on cost cutting. I'm afraid that if hospital mergers are stopped, some will have to close up shop because they can't make ends meet.
http://www.familyinhomecaregiving.com/blog/index.html?entry=natividad-chomp-interested-in-salinas
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303863404577286071837740832.html?mod=WSJ_markets_liveupdate
About Richard Kuehn & Family inHome Caregiving of Monterey:
After more than a decade of caregiving, both in a professional environment and for a 97 year old family member I was dissatisfied with service from local caregiving agencies. I became convinced of the need for a service which provides very personal assistance to elderly and founded Family inHome Caregiving serving the Monterey Peninsula. Please visit my blog where I talk about important senior issues at:
http://www.familyinhomecaregiving.com/Blog
I've been writing on my blog about Natividad Medical Center's interest in merging with Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital. But after reading an article in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) entitled Regulators Seek to Cool Hospital-Deal Fever, I wonder if it's possible for it to actually go through. The article said that government antitrust enforcers are souring on the concept of hospital mergers after a flurry of deals which set a 10 year high of 86 transactions valued at $7.94 billion last year (according to Irving Levin Associates). Federal Trade Commission Chairman (FTC) Jon Leibowitz told the Journal that some mergers lock up local markets, leading to higher prices for patients and insurance companies. However, hospitals interviewed said the government is sending mixed messages. Health care reform encourages doctors to coordinate patient care, which is easier when they all work for the same institution. And squeezing out efficiencies in costs is easier to do when you have a large organization. "It doesn't seem like the FTC understands where the field is going and the pressures it has to be more efficient, to be leaner," Melinda Hatton, general counsel for the American Hospital Association trade group said. I agree with Ms. Hatton. Insurance companies, Medicare and Medicaid have been cutting reimbursement rates and squeezing hospitals. I don't see why hospitals would be treated like AT&T, for instance, which recently was prohibited from merging with T-Mobile because anti-trust regulators believed a merger would cost consumers more. Most of the revenue hospitals receive, in my opinion, comes from insurance companies and government payments which aren't really impacted when two facilities merge, so it's hard to believe the argument that patients would pay more when hospitals merge. There were studies in the WSJ showing insurers paid more for care in markets with less competition, but that's likely to change with the focus on cost cutting. I'm afraid that if hospital mergers are stopped, some will have to close up shop because they can't make ends meet.
http://www.familyinhomecaregiving.com/blog/index.html?entry=natividad-chomp-interested-in-salinas
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303863404577286071837740832.html?mod=WSJ_markets_liveupdate
About Richard Kuehn & Family inHome Caregiving of Monterey:
After more than a decade of caregiving, both in a professional environment and for a 97 year old family member I was dissatisfied with service from local caregiving agencies. I became convinced of the need for a service which provides very personal assistance to elderly and founded Family inHome Caregiving serving the Monterey Peninsula. Please visit my blog where I talk about important senior issues at:
http://www.familyinhomecaregiving.com/Blog
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