Ahora News Publicado el 08-01-2007
Past AMA boss blasts $2.6 billion Nevada health care merger
SCOTT SONNERAP
RENO - The past president of the American Medical Association opposed a proposed $2.6 billion health care merger in Nevada on Thursday, saying the ``robber barons'' behind it have a record of putting profits ahead of patients.
Several nurses and other health care practitioners also testified before the Nevada Insurance Commission against UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s buyout of the Las Vegas-based Sierra Health Services Inc. Company officials tried to reassure regulators that Sierra Health would retain its own leadership and expand services without raising rates.
The nearly three-hour hearing in Reno came after concerns were raised by the state attorney general's Bureau of Consumer Protection earlier this week that the acquisition ``may result in the most concentrated insurance market in the country.''
Dr. William Plested, immediate past president of the AMA, said it's part of a trend he called a ``tragedy, a travesty _ the malignantly explosive growth of giant, for-profit monopolies that provide health care.''
``UnitedHealth has an unblemished record of putting profit over patients,'' Plested said.
``These are not just the good old boys from Lake Wobegon. These are the robber barons of the modern era.''
Diane Ross, executive director of the Reno health and wellness center Continuum, said UnitedHealth reimburses health care providers at rates lower than Medicaid and Medicare while providing poor customer service.
``With UnitedHealth yesterday, we got Kevin in India,'' she said about a telephone call to inquire about reimbursement.
``Then we got somebody else and then we were hung up on,'' Ross said. She tried to call back but wasn't able to reach someone who could help. ``This is not unusual and not unique.''
Critics say the merger would put a single entity in control of 80 percent of the HMO market in Nevada.
Corporate officers said that's misleading because there is no distinct HMO market in the state, rather it's a sector of an overall insurance market. They said they would control less than 30 percent of Nevada's commercial health insurance market.
``The marketplace is extremely competitive in Nevada,'' said Frank Collins, vice president and general counsel for Sierra, which operates Health Plan of Nevada, the state's first and largest HMO.
``I can assure you as a result of the merger there will be no increase in the rates,'' added Forrest Burke, general counsel for the Minnesota-based UnitedHealth.
Gov. Jim Gibbons, who has raised concerns about the merger, attended part of the hearing. State Insurance Commissioner Alice Molasky-Arman, who must approve the merger, said she offered Gibbons an opportunity to address the commission, but he declined. A similar hearing was held in Elko on Wednesday and a third was scheduled Friday in Las Vegas.
``I do not want to provide health care for patients with one hand tied behind my back by one insurance company that has monopolized the market,'' said Dawn Dollarhide, one of nine registered nurses from Renown Medical Center who testified against the merger.
``I want the health care decisions I make for my patients and for my own family to be made here in Reno, not Minnesota,'' added Robin Marquez.
Jon Bunker, president and CEO of Sierra Health, said he was born and raised in Las Vegas and has Nevadans' best interest at heart.
``I can assure you we would not have pursued this merger if we didn't believe it was in the best interest of all the people we insure, of all the physicians and providers who contract with us and of all the employees who work with us,'' Bunker said.
Ken Burdick, president and CEO of UnitedHealth, said he understands that ``health care is a local business.''
``We will be an engaged member of the community. We will keep the Sierra system, the Sierra operating style, the Sierra leadership team intact,'' he said, adding he would make commitments in writing ``to address many of the concerns that have been shared this morning.''
Other merger backers included Scott Watts, president of the Nevada Alliance for Retired Americans, and Jim Conran of Consumers for Competitive Choice.
``We think it will improve access to underserved communities,'' Conran said.
Peter Breen Jr., an independent insurance broker in Reno, said the merger would strengthen Sierra's position and allow it to offer more competitive insurance products.
Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, said she's worried about the impact on the nearly 20 percent of Nevadans who have no health insurance.
State Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, offered neither support nor opposition but urged the panel to proceed carefully.
``This is not widgets,'' he said. ``This is not hotel rooms or cars or cell phones, all of which have gone through great mergers throughout the country. It's about health care.''
