Bene-fist Wins, You Lose

When the merger of the Columbus and Deaconess hospitals was completed in 1996, a monopoly was formed. The trade off for consumers in losing their choice in Great Falls hospital care was that the new entity would be monitored by the Montana Attorney General.

Mike McGrath performed his periodic COPA review six months ago, and even more recently refused Benefis request to reexamine the issue. His conclusion was that “The Department finds that there is not sufficient evidence to conclude that increases in competition have eliminated the need for regulation over inpatient hospital services.” He indicated he would continue to monitor developments in the marketplace and respond accordingly. This was a rational plan to me and I believe the public supported his decision. This was a local issue and should have stayed in the appropriate realm of the Attorney General.

Instead, Benefis did an end-around on the Attorney General, going straight to the legislature. It is hard to believe that the majority of legislators who voted for repeal of the COPA had the interest or time to do an in-depth analysis on this local issue. One of the Great Falls legislators told the Clinic in January that this should be a decision for the Attorney General to make and he agreed with and respected his decision. Amazingly, the legislator ended up voting for the repeal. Doctors are ineffective lobbyists it seems as they often fail to make significant contributions for their legislative causes.

A legislator from Anaconda sponsored the Benefis bill to repeal the COPA. This is fairly irritating. The COPA had nothing to do with health care in his region. I wonder how the people of Anaconda would feel if the situation was reversed.

Our legislators have just opened the cage. The dissolution of the COPA fully unleashes the monopoly. Do you need any more proof than the above actions, that Benefis can and will continue to be an 800 pound gorilla?

Benefis is a major advertiser in the Tribune and as expected the editors supported the repeal of COPA. The newspaper needed to show support for their best customer and the favorable editorial opinion was a smart business decision. It does bother me that the newspaper will exaggerate pieces of information to support their reports. An example...Benefis claimed that it cost $800,000 per year for it to comply with COPA regulations. The Tribune did not seek verification of this and just passed this on as fact and then enhanced it by stating “complying with it (COPA) costs upward of a million dollars a year." GeeGuy nailed this back in February when he stated in his COPA-cabana post:

The Tribune says: "After all, the state "certificate of public advantage" process adds about $800,000 a year to the hospital's administrative costs." Benefis has never documented these numbers and, in fact, it seems like they jump a couple hundred thousand every time I hear about them. Has the Tribune ever seen financial statements of any kind that document a cost $800,000.00? Or do they just take Benefis' word for it? Can anyone say "spoonfed?"

Maybe newspapers should disclose their financial interests when they print an editorial about a business that significantly contributes to their bottom line.

The hospital and Tribune successfully labeled this fight as Benefis vs. Clinic instead of Monopoly vs. Community. You were the only side without a legal team and unfortunately not well represented. It was poorly reported what the dissolution of COPA will mean to you. Here is what is likely in store for those who purchase health care... open your wallet. Benefis already said they want to increase their prices. They will. It is not about saving some unsubstantiated sum from administering the COPA, but it is about being able to charge you more. About two-thirds of Benefis' profit comes from government sources (i.e. Medicare, Medicaid). These prices are fixed. Beds at Benefis are nearly always full. It will be difficult to increase volume to make more from fixed payers. Benefis will increase prices very soon. That will be paid by you through higher insurance premiums and even more directly out of pocket if you do not carry insurance. Despite their charity boasts, like any business Benefis will attempt to collect from you, insurance or not. It turns out that while they make over $10 million dollars per year that is not nearly enough for their plans. They are building a $75 million tower without having the cardiologists and heart surgeons to fill it. Misguided or not, Benefis will decide how to spend your money, not you.

So give a big thanks to all the Great Falls legislators that effectively voted for exchanging your loss of choice in hospital care for higher prices. And if you are dissatisfied with your next hospital bill let Mike McGrath know. He is still the crime dog and may be watching more closely now that he was dissed by our legislators and local hospital.