Minnesota lawmakers push for community benefits agreement as part of Sutter-Allina healthcare merger
It's been a year of large healthcare mergers in Minnesota, and some state lawmakers are concerned that it will increase costs for patients.
Lawmakers say they are especially worried about the Sutter-Allina merger because of past claims and lawsuits. They want to see the same guardrails put up in the proposal as those they way were set in place for another merger this year: Sanford Health and North Memorial.
When Sanford Health and North Memorial merged last month, West St. Paul council member and University of Minnesota Board Regent Robyn Gulley said there was a Community Benefits Agreement put in place.
"It talks about protecting union contracts, patient care. We are talking to them about how they are going to manage price increases," Gulley said.
That's what these lawmakers say is being negotiated in another major Minnesota merger between Health Partners and Essentia that would create a dominant presence across Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin.
"The least that we can do in this moment, this is the very least, is we need to be sure that these corporations will put patients first, and that is why we are calling for community benefits agreements to do just that," said state Sen. Alice Mann.
It's also what these lawmakers want in the proposed Sutter-Allina merger. Sutter has 27 hospitals in California, and Allina has 12 in Minnesota.
California reached a $575 million settlement with Sutter in 2021 for anti-competitive practices that the state alleged lead to higher health care costs.
"The reason for advocating for a community benefits agreement is that we do understand the pressures that are happening in healthcare right now, and we want to make sure that we are, no matter what happens, demanding the best patient care and patient access and protections for cost," said Gulley.
The person in charge of reviewing the proposed mergers is Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison who these lawmakers say they trust to do the right thing.
"The attorney general used that authority to great effect in the North Memorial-Sanford merger, and I'm very confident that he will do the same thing with the other two big mergers that are proposed," said House Minority Leader Zach Stephenson.
Ellison is in charge of reviewing the mergers.
"The Attorney General is committed to conducting a thorough review of these healthcare mergers to determine whether these transactions are in the public interest," a spokesperson said.
In a joint statement, Sutter Health and Allina say in part: "We are pleased to be working toward a legally binding agreement that addresses both the important challenges facing Minnesota healthcare as well as the opportunities Minnesota healthcare must consider to advance a stronger, more sustainable future for healthcare in the state."
