The Minnesota Hospital Association is speaking out against a proposed law that would increase the state’s oversight of hospital and health system mergers, reports Becker’s.
The bill, HF402, is too vague as it is written and indicates a lack of trust and adaptability from the government, the MHA wrote in a letter to the state’s commerce, finance and policy committee. Hospitals’ current challenges require more, not less, flexibility from lawmakers — contradictory to the bill’s proposed 180-day review timeline.
“Trust in science and trust in the high-quality care that hospitals and health systems provided — from the public and from lawmakers — allowed us to go further and reach unprecedented heights of care and service [during the pandemic],” the letter said. “Is this bill a signal that something has suddenly changed in that level of trust in our health care organizations, and if so, we respectfully ask why that is?”
The MHA argued that the current oversight process — which includes federal and state antitrust laws, authorities provided to the state attorney general, licensing laws and public review processes conducted by the state health department — is “robust” and effective as is, and questioned the need for further measures. Read more.
