A bill that would place more oversight on the budgets and bills of Delaware's hospitals passed the Delaware House following a lengthy, and at times heated, debate.
House Substitute 2 for House Bill 350 would create the Diamond State Hospital Cost Review Board, empowering a five-member voting panel to analyze the budgets of Delaware's six major hospitals, excluding Nemours Children's Hospital.
Hospitals would be compared to the state's healthcare spending benchmarks, and non-compliance could lead to a performance improvement plan being put in place.
The bill enters the fold as state employee premiums are slated to rise by 27% in Fiscal Year 2025, with Governor Carney's proposed budget including $200 million to cover the state's share.
Initially, hospitals would be capped at 250% of Medicare costs for hospital services in 2025 until the board is put in place.
Nemours is exempt since less than 5% of its patients are on Medicare.
Speaker of the House Valerie Longhurst (D-Bear) is the chief sponsor, and pushed back criticism from hospitals that this would cut their revenues.
"This legislation is not about punishing hospitals, but rather ensuring that constituents are able to access quality and affordable healthcare, and put a system into place to cut the skyrocketing costs that we have seen in Delaware."
Longhurst pointed out the board mirrors one that has been put in place in Vermont, where EKGs are $320 cheaper and MRIs are $1,630 cheaper than in Delaware.
The bill ended up passing on a partisan 21-yes, 16-no, 4-absent vote line, but not before several questions were raised by members of the GOP.
"What we're saying here is that the state knows how to better spend this excess revenue in our communities than our hospitals that employee hundreds of people and serve thousands of people in our community," Rep. Bryan Shupe (R-Milford) said during the discussion.
Deputy Director of Health Care Reform for DHSS David Bentz, a recent three-term House member, responded to Shupe.
"How much of our economy can we allow this industry to take on and become a larger percentage of until we start recognizing that their continued growth and success is having a negative impact on state budgets, on small business budgets, and the budgets of Delawareans."
Eventually the House took a 30-minute recess just before 9 p.m., and after they came back, House Majority Leader Melissa Minor-Brown (D) shut down the discussion by invoking a rarely-used House rule that if five people are calling for the vote, the House can then vote to immediately go to the final vote, which worked on a partisan basis.
After the bill passed, multiple Republicans, including Rep. Sean Lynn (D -Dover) vented frustration they never had an opportunity to address the chamber.
"We were deprived of a right to have questions asked and have statements heard. I have significant issues about bond covenants that lead to significant pre-emption issues, but I did not have the opportunity to be heard.
HB 350 goes to the Senate Executive Committee next.
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