Health care/insurance
Health care insurers in this state are losing money, considering drastic action to regain economic stability here. Roger Williams General Hospital, once courted by for-profit Columbia/HCA remains independent. Lifespan and Care New England, the large health care networks, are attempting to merge, creating growing concerns of a monopolistic situation that eliminates competition.
Doctors are upset, maintaining they have less and less to say about the well-being of their patients.
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Put simply, in every single day’s paper and on the television news are stories about an industry or industries (health care and health care insurance) in turmoil. Managed care is under attack. Hospital affiliations are under attack. Health insurers are under attack. And those in the medical profession are under attack.
In Rhode Island at the center of the controversy are bills passed by the General Assembly in recent years that make it difficult for for-profit entities to operate in both the health insurance and hospital industries.
“We’ve had one of the best and lowest-cost health care systems in the country because of competition,” writes one of our executive poll participants. “Now we are eliminating competition. If it continues our health system will end up like our workers’ comp system was years ago.”
That comment was in response to this week’s question whether executives felt the recent hospitals and insurance legislation were in the best interest of Rhode Islanders. The respondents overwhelmingly said the legislation, which limits a for-profit organization’s ability to do business here, was not in the best interest of our residents.
Only in Rhode Island are such severe limitations imposed.
When our legislature next convenes after the first of the year, it needs to take a hard look at the ramifications of these two bills, and give great consideration to rewriting the legislation to allow for more competition in health care that encourages more efficiency, better patient care, and restores order to a system that is clearly out of control.
Fleet branches
We are encouraged by the list of banks interested in buying the 50 branches that Fleet and Bank Boston must sell to win approval for Fleet’s acquisition of BankBoston. The list ranges from among the largest banking companies in the world to a $9 billion super community bank. It includes one bank (Sovereign) that already has a loan operation in Providence, and services thousands of automobile loans in the area.
Each of the suitors bring certain strengths to the table, from strong super community banks that concentrate on retail to large regional and national players that incorporate strong business, investment and retail components.
We hope that in the final determination, whatever bank emerges the winner not only takes over the branch operations, but establishes an administrative division in Providence that makes it a powerful force within the Rhode Island community. Many of our strong initiatives have been the result of efforts by banking executives who understand the importance of their institution’s relationship with the community.
Additionally, we would hope that any new institution brings with it a strong trust department that will be able to compete with Fleet. The divestiture does not include BankBoston’s Private Bank.
As one observer suggested, it is ironic that the one item not being offered is the Private Bank, the trust facility that was in fact the very basis for the creation of Rhode Island Hospital Trust National Bank.
