Health report is assailed
Consultant's look at Utah care system 'falls short,' critics say
"What you will see is there are several areas where we believe that the report has some shortcomings," said Spencer Stokes, speaking on behalf of HCA MountainStar, the operator of six hospitals in Utah.
Specifically, Stokes said, consultant David Argue of Economists Inc. failed to properly measure the market power and concentration of the state's health-care providers and insurers.
The report, released earlier this month, concluded that Utah's health-care system enjoys a "vigorous rivalry" and recommended that lawmakers not intervene in the market. It largely let Intermountain Healthcare, which has faced increased legislative scrutiny over the past two years, off the hook from allegations of unfair business practices.
At a Thursday meeting of the Privately Owned Health Care Organization Task Force, representatives from Intermountain and those who compete against it responded to Argue's report, for which the state paid $300,000.
Both Regence and MountainStar hired their own experts to critique Argue's report. Copies of their findings were provided to task force members Thursday.
Regence representatives said the company retained its own expert because it lacked the internal expertise to dissect Argue's highly technical report. "It was important for us to help you understand what it is that you have been delivered," Cannaday said, particularly if lawmakers are going to use the Argue analysis to make policy decisions.
Legislators questioned the need for the companies to hire their own experts, noting that Regence's analysis was done by a company that submitted a proposal to the task force. Lawmakers also attempted to quell some fears by noting they are using Argue's analysis as another piece of information the task force has spent the past year gathering.
"I don't believe that we've adopted this document as a text for this task force," said Sen. Gene Davis, D-Salt Lake. "It's a snapshot in time as to what our market looks like."
The task force was born out of an effort during the 2005 legislative session to first tax Intermountain Healthcare, a nonprofit entity and the state's largest health-care network, and later break up its hospital and health insurance systems. It has since expanded its reach to study the overall delivery of health care in the state.
E-mail: awelling@desnews.com
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