www.montereycountynow.com September 5-11, 2024 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 11 In what could be a watershed moment in Monterey County health care, members of the state’s Office of Health Care Affordability Board signaled in a daylong meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 28 that they want to reign in high costs at the three main hospitals—Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, Salinas Valley Health and Natividad. The meeting included emotional stories from people impacted by high hospital costs, as well as testimony with data outlining just how expensive the county’s hospitals are, presented by OHCA staff, Covered California, CalPERS and a university professor. By the end of the day, it was clear those hospitals will remain under scrutiny of the regulatory agency and could face strict spending limits in the future. Some board members raised the specter of forwarding future data to the California Attorney General’s Office to investigate whether there had been any antitrust activity among hospitals resulting in higher prices. Some of the data collected by OHCA staff stunned the audience in Seaside, the first time the board had met outside of Sacramento, motivated by workers who had trekked to the capital to speak at earlier meetings since last year. The audience was taken aback by hospital administrator salaries, which were found to be higher than those in the San Francisco Bay Area between 2018 and 2021. Multiple members of the audience could be heard uttering “wow” when a slide came up showing CHOMP administrators being paid $183 an hour in 2021, in comparison to the Bay Area average of $116 and the statewide average of $108. (Natividad’s hourly average for administrators was $97 in 2021; SVH’s was $114.) One OHCA board member later pointed out that executive salaries are probably a small percentage of hospital budgets. However, between 2018 and 2022, CHOMP and SVH had “significantly higher” operating margins than the statewide average. “Where does the money go?” asked board member Ian Lewis, policy director for Unite Here Local 2. The answer offered by staff and others was that it probably goes into reserves and endowments. Christopher Whaley of Brown University School of Public Health, who did his own study of the region’s hospital prices, suggested that it was market concentration by the three hospitals that was creating a high-price atmosphere. He rejected hospital officials’ arguments that they have to make up for the low rates paid by Medicare and Medi-Cal, as well as making up for uninsured patients who cannot pay. Montage Health, parent company of CHOMP, released a statement that included an admission by Mindy Maschmeyer, director of marketing and communications: “We recognize that health care costs are too high.” She said they are planning $50 million in cost reductions over the next 24 months, “which will allow us to lower our expenses and return those dollars to the community via lower rates.” They are also working on agreements with large employers and unions, she said. A longer version of this story appears online at montereycountynow.com. Market Watch Pricey Monterey County hospitals go under the microscope at a state hearing in Seaside. By Pam Marino Dozens of people filled the room for the OHCA board’s meeting at Embassy Suites in Seaside, many holding signs in English and Spanish about the high cost of health care locally. NEWS “Where does the money go?” DANIEL DREIFUSS FRESH. LOCAL. TASTY. Fisherman’s Wharf FRESHEST SEAFOOD with PANORAMIC VIEWS Open Daily at 11:30am • At the end of Fisherman’s Wharf #1 www.rockfishmonterey.com • 831.324.4375 carmel plaza • carmel-by-the-sea khakisofcarmel • 831.625.8106 shop fall arrivals
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