DOVER – Nominations for the
Diamond State Hospital Cost Review Board will be among those heard by the senate during an extraordinary session Monday, Dec. 16 called on by
Governor John Carney.
The board was signed into law earlier this year after months of heated debates and requires eight members to step forward for the opportunity to take on reviewing budgets for Delaware’s largest hospital systems.
In its final and signed form,
House Substitute 2 for House Bill 350 with House and Senate Amendments 1 requires eight board members, seven of which are to be appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate and the eighth is to be the head of the Delaware Healthcare Association and is a non-voting member of the group.
Now in his last few weeks as the governor for Delaware before starting his next role as the mayor of Wilmington, Carney has taken on the task of naming at least five nominees for this board, leaving little wiggle room for nominations, if any, from incoming Governor-elect Matt Meyer.
Those nominees, according to the agenda for that extraordinary session, include current and retiring Delaware Secretary of Finance Richard Geisenberger, Kent-Sussex Industries CEO and former Woodbridge Superintendent Heath Chasanov, former Nanticoke Hospital executive Thomas Brown, former Delaware Secretary of Finance David Singleton and former Delaware State University Board Chair Dr. Devona Williams.
The Diamond State Hospital Cost Review Board will be tasked with taking a closer look at hospital budgets and annual expenses and weighing those fiscal reports against economic indicators and the state’s health care spending benchmark. For now, hospitals will be measured against either 2% growth or the core consumer index plus 1% over the previous year’s rate, whichever is higher, but a committee is also meeting to discuss what other economic factors may be under consideration.
By 2027, hospitals will have to work to meet the health care spending benchmark – or require budgetary approval by the Diamond State Hospital Cost Review Board.
If confirmed by the state Senate, each board member appointed by the governor is assumed to receive an annual salary of $35,000, according to the fiscal note attached to the final bill. The chair of the board, who is also appointed by the governor, is assumed to receive an annual salary of $40,000.
Delaware Healthcare Association President and CEO Brian Frazee previously requested that Carney not nominate members to the review board before leaving his statewide post in January in a letter dated Wednesday, Nov. 20 due to pending litigation in the Chancery Court, as well as ongoing discussions with the incoming administration and legislative leaders on potential modifications.
“Therefore, please avoid potential confusion and uncertainty by enabling the next administration, legislative leaders and the courts to resolve the critical issue before appointments are made to this board,” he said in the letter. “Our member hospitals continue to take significant steps to improve community health, expand access and reduce costs. These include investments in primary care, behavioral health, social drivers of health, value-based care arrangements, and advancing health equity. As you know, we will continue working collaboratively with our healthcare stakeholder partners, the new administration and the General Assembly to tackle these complex and important issues.”
A representative of the governor’s office declined to comment before the Senate Confirmation hearings.
