As Yale-New Haven Hospital System prepares to defend their acquisition of three hospitals across northern and central Connecticut, health advocates are discussing key concerns that will factor into the state’s approval process — including the risk of increases in healthcare pricing and of the slashing of services, Yale Daily news reports.
YNHHS has acquired three new hospitals –– Waterbury Hospital, Rockville General Hospital and Manchester Memorial –– from Prospect Medical Holdings, a private equity firm. The system hopes to capture part of a regional population it has previously never accessed and tighten its competition with Hartford HealthCare and Trinity Health, two large systems that have traditionally locked in the state’s most enriched revenue. Currently, the population YNHH tends to service is less commercially insured, meaning more likely to be on Medicare and Medicaid, and have lower reimbursement rates for services.
“Consolidation of healthcare systems worries us,” said John Brady, AFT Connecticut Vice President. “Both because it decreases competition, which leads to increased costs for the residents, but also it decreases services … as hospitals take over several hospitals, they have a tendency to eliminate one service or another at some of their hospitals to consolidate them.” Read more.
