CLARIFICATION: Soon after this article was published, I heard from Steve Walsh, the president of the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association, who said I misrepresented what he said at the […]
Paul Hattis
Posted inOpinion
My agenda for health cost benchmark hearings
IT’S MARCH, so that means it is time for the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournament and all of the suspense, surprise, and excitement connected to it. But March also […]
Posted inOpinion
Nonprofits should make payments in lieu of taxes
WITH THE NEW YEAR, a new governor, and a new Legislature getting back to business, there are a lot of policy issues before them. I’d like to highlight legislation dealing with payments […]
Posted inOpinion
A health care wish list narrowed to one
ABOUT A YEAR AGO, I wrote about seven state governmental policy wishes for 2022 to help rein-in overall health care spendingand to work towards a more affordable health care system in our state. […]
Posted inOpinion
Hospital pediatric beds in short supply
After a long hiatus, Dr. Jarone Lee, an emergency and ICU physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate professor at Harvard Medical School, resumes his conversation about frontline critical care […]
Posted inOpinion
Health care homework for Gov.-elect Healey
AS THE GUBERNATORIAL transition begins, Gov.-elect Maura Healey and her team will need to start setting priorities, and health care should be one of them. As the Health Policy Commission’s […]
Posted inOpinion
Give the Health Policy Commission greater leverage
“UNLESS THE Commonwealth’s health care cost containment approach is strengthened and expanded by policymakers, the result will be a health care system that is increasingly unaffordable for Massachusetts residents and […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Is state aid really helping the neediest hospitals?
AS LEGISLATORS ponder whether to resurrect a $350 million “relief” fund for Massachusetts hospitals, we suggest that they first step up the state’s informational capacity to better assure that they […]
Posted inOpinion
5 observations at the end of the HPC’s Altman years
THE ”ALTMAN YEARS” came to an end at the last meeting of the Health Policy Commission when chairman Stuart Altman, a professor at Brandeis, stepped down after 10 years at […]
Posted inOpinion
Here’s a cake recipe for the Health Policy Commission
WHEN MASS GENERAL Brigham submitted its performance improvement plan on May 16, I thought what was proposed was “wholly inadequate.” In recent days, to follow up that comment, I tried to […]
Posted inOpinion
Children’s acquisition of Franciscan makes sense
I WRITE TODAY not to bury the leaders of Boston Children’s Hospital, but to praise them. Well, perhaps with some reservations. My reason for saying something nice today about Boston […]
Posted inOpinion
DPH gets it right on Mass General Brigham
THE LONG-RUNNING power struggle between Mass General Brigham, the state’s largest health and hospital system, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts took a decisive turn this past week. Department of Public […]
Posted inOpinion
Dear DPH, here’s a strategy for handling MGB
The following is an open letter to the Department of Public Health after Mass General Brigham’s decision on Monday to seek a postponement until May 16 in filing a performance improvement […]
Posted inOpinion
Moment of truth for state’s health cost benchmark
A MOMENT OF TRUTH is now here for Mass General Brigham, as well as for the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission, the Department of Public Health, and for health insurance premium […]
Posted inNews Analysis
30-40% of COVID patients at MGH incidentally infected
This is another in a series of conversations between Dr. Jarone Lee, a frontline critical care and emergency physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate professor at Harvard Medical School, […]
Posted inOpinion
With health care spending rising, 7 policy wishes for 2022
AS THE YEAR draws to a close, with COVID still raging, the sad reality is that the next weeks to a few months could be quite challenging. The hope here is […]
Posted inOpinion
Mariano’s health care bill shows promise
HOUSE SPEAKER Ron Mariano on Friday followed through on his pledge to put forward legislation that would subject expansion projects of major health care providers to more regulatory review. The bill, […]
Posted inOpinion
Why are hospital ICUs so full now?
This is another in a series of conversations between Dr. Jarone Lee, a frontline critical care and emergency physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate professor at Harvard Medical School, […]
Posted inOpinion
DPH needs to stop being a paper tiger
EVERY TIME a hospital spends capital dollars to add inpatient beds or ambulatory sites to its footprint, the Department of Public Health is tasked with conducting an analysis to determine whether […]
Posted inOpinion
My spin on Mass General Brigham’s financial spin
MASS GENERAL BRIGHAM’S recent press release on its quarterly financial results masterfully blends positive numbers to impress current and future bondholders while obscuring how well the hospital system is doing […]
Posted inOpinion
Another wealthy hospital system expanding in the suburbs
HERE WE go again. First came Mass General Brigham and its $400 million plan to launch new ambulatory care centers in Westwood, Woburn, Westborough, and Salem, New Hampshire. And now […]
Posted inOpinion
Potential Atrius sale evokes sadness, concerns
IN MARCH, Atrius Health announced it was going to be acquired by Optum, a division of the country’s largest for-profit health insurance company, UnitedHealth Group. The deal evokes sadness in […]
Posted inOpinion
What we need to know about Mass General Brigham expansion
AS THE BATTLE heats up surrounding the capital project proposals put forward by Mass General Brigham to the Department of Public Health, most of the focus over the next few […]
Posted inOpinion
Can Mass General Brigham integrate?
Perhaps its’s real this time, and not just rhetoric. I am referring, of course, to the recent media stories that Mass General Brigham, more than 25 years after its creation, […]