Furthering its reach in Massachusetts, hospital operator Steward Health Care System has proposed a sweetheart deal to 150 doctors affiliated with the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center's physician group, Whittier Independent Practice Association, that Beth Israel attorneys say could violate federal and state anti-kickback statutes, The Boston Globe reports.
A Steward spokesman said the deal is legal. But Beth Israel attorneys suggest the for-profit hospital operator lured the 150 physicians with a sweetheart offer that borders on illegal, according to the article. Whittier physicians stand to gain $1.8 million to $3 million in additional earnings if they join Steward and its global payment contract with insurance giant Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. The attorneys allege that Steward promised the physicians waived administrative fees and assumption of all downside risk, which could violate state and federal laws.
Whittier anticipates joining Steward Jan. 1, but Beth Israel Deaconess Physicians Organization has yet to sign a waiver to let the physicians go.
"We have a market full of very competitive leaders, and this [Whittier] switch is a precursor of things to come,'' said Thomas Glynn, public policy lecturer at Harvard's Kennedy School.
Steward has purchased 10 community hospitals during the past year alone, according to the Globe article. In fact, Steward is set to own 20 percent of hospitals in the region, that is, one in five hospitals, according to an earlier Patriot Ledger report.
"It's very concerning that longstanding community hospitals can't compete with private equity money,'' said Lawrence General Hospital President Dianne J. Anderson, whose hospital is affiliated with Beth Israel Deaconess, in the Globe article. "It's fundamentally changing the landscape of health care in Eastern Massachusetts."
For more information:
- read the Boston Globe article (sub. req.)
- read the Boston Business Journal news brief
- read the Patriot Ledger article
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