“Fundamentally, I believe in the market,’’ said Andrei Soran, chief executive of MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham. But “the market got out of hand,’’ he said. “Intervention will bring it back to the appropriate level.’’
Norman Deschene, president of Lowell General Hospital, said his hospital is losing doctors because they can see a patient and make “$100 today with Lowell General’’ and then sign on with a better-paid competitor and make “$150 tomorrow for the same work.’’
“Some government intervention needs to take place,’’ he said.
Ellen Zane, chief executive of Tufts Medical Center, and James Roosevelt — chief executive of Tufts Health Plan, the only insurance company executive on the panel — also said they favor temporary price controls. Lowell General, MetroWest, and Tufts Medical Center are lower-paid providers, or they fall in the middle, depending on the insurer paying them.
Only Dr. Gary Gottlieb — chief executive of Partners HealthCare, which includes the highly paid Brigham and Women’s and Massachusetts General hospitals — disagreed. He said patients are starting to switch to lower-cost providers, as more employers adopt limited and tiered provider networks, which charge consumers more for using high-cost hospitals and specialists.
The Partners chief took intense questioning about why his hospitals are paid better than many others, and whether he believes disparities in payments are a problem in the state.
The panel was responding to presentations from Governor Deval Patrick’s administration and Attorney General Martha Coakley’s staff showing that high prices paid to some providers are driving up health care costs. An investigation by the state Division of Health Care Finance and Policy found that for cesarean deliveries, for example, the highest-paid hospitals are given almost double ($8,000 to $10,500) what the lowest-paid hospitals receive ($5,000 to $6,500), without a discernible difference in quality. The prices come at the expense of employers and consumers who pay insurance premiums.
The agencies released similar data last year.
