Delaware hospital leaders discuss cost of care at healthcare summit

Why Should Delaware Care?
Both nationally and locally healthcare is changing. Reductions to federal subsidies are set to hit early next year, the state passed laws to change how providers are paid for care, as well as the state introducing its first surgeon general. 

Leaders from across Delaware’s healthcare arena met on Thursday for an all-day summit to discuss challenges facing industry professionals and how the state is bracing for federal changes to Medicaid that could see thousands of Delawareans go without coverage. 

The summit was held in Dover by the Delaware Healthcare Association, a lobbying organization that represents the state’s hospital systems. 

During the all-day event, Delaware’s congressional delegation, its first surgeon general, as well as a panel of hospital presidents discussed an evolving healthcare landscape both locally and nationally. 

It also was underscored by a slew of changes to how the state and Delawareans will pay for medical care as the cost of healthcare has risen, largely unchecked. 

During one of the early presentations, Neil Hockstein, the state’s first surgeon general, laid out his vision for how his role would address public health in Delaware. 

Since taking the role earlier this summer, Hockstein has discussed how he believes cell phones and social media are today’s public health priorities. 

Hockstein, who for decades was a head and neck surgeon, said he believes there needs to be better protections for children on social media, like schooltime bans, notification limits and stronger age-verification functions. 

He pointed to other nations that have implemented social media bans, but said compliance is often very low. Hockstein added there can be some social consequences for not being on social media for kids, saying “no parent wants their kid to be the only kid off social media.”

But he also discussed on Thursday how technology could be used to benefit the healthcare industry and reduce inefficiencies within patient treatments, such as pre-approvals for care. 

He said the state has been working toward more centralized communication between healthcare providers, like hospitals, and payers, most often insurers. But Hockstein added patients are often cut out of their care once it comes to waiting for approvals or other communications between organizations.

“We can track our pizza, but a patient can’t figure out if their MRI is authorized,” Hockstein said. 

While he said technology like artificial intelligence may help to alleviate some communication gaps, without a connected healthcare communication infrastructure, the bots would be “incredibly efficient at being inefficient.”

A separate panel with Delaware’s congressional delegation — U.S. Senators Lisa Blunt Rochester and Chris Coons, as well as U.S. Congresswoman Sarah McBride — discussed looming cuts to Medicaid funding that are set to impact not only patients but also healthcare providers. 

Coons said as the Medicaid reductions were being passed, Delaware’s lawmakers were sounding the alarm that the cuts would impact more than a quarter of the state’s population, including those with disabilities and in nursing homes. 

“It’ll have real costs,” Coons said. “People will choose between rent and healthcare.”

Signed into law in July by President Donald Trump, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act imposes drastic cuts and stricter work eligibility requirements for Medicaid clients. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the cuts will leave 10 million people uninsured by 2034.

The cuts are estimated to pull close to $1 trillion from the program over the next decade. For some, Blunt Rochester said, the consequences would be dire. 

“People will be sicker, they will be poorer, and some people will die,” Blunt Rochester said. 

Separately, McBride discussed hikes in premiums for patients who enroll in Delaware’s open marketplace.

Earlier this fall, the Delaware Department of Insurance announced rate changes for health plans purchased through the open marketplace, also known as Affordable Care Act (ACA) or Obamacare plans. The adjustments are connected, in part, to reductions in health insurance subsidies at the federal level.

Plans for two of the state’s primary insurers, Highmark and AmeriHealth Caritas, will both jump by double-digit percentages in 2027, according to the announcement.

The ACA marketplace makes up only a small percentage of insured Delawareans. Most are either covered by a governmental plan like Medicaid or Medicare, while others receive private coverage through their employer. 

Still, a jump in rates represents additional financial strain for patients who are often left to cover the entirety of their coverage plans without additional support from the government or an employer, such as small business owners.

McBride said for some, navigating those costs may be too much to manage. But she also pointed to other ways to pay for care they may need, like hospital financial assistance or other cheaper ACA plans. 

Still, she said shopping around for coverage would not address what she called a “cost crisis.”

The final panel of the day saw leadership from the state’s six hospital systems discuss an evolving landscape for hospitals and the counterweight of operating businesses, while also working to best serve patients. 

Kyle Benoit, Bayhealth’s chief operating officer, said many in society feel as though hospitals put “profits over patient care.” He said as a result, hospital leaders need to do more to engage with the community and address their own “shortcomings.” 

While hospitals may not be the only sectors of the healthcare industry contributing to rising costs, Benoit acknowledged that when patients need care, it is often the hospitals they are dealing with. 

“But often, when the patient gets a hospital bill or when they call for an appointment, they see us,” Benoit said. 

The new CEO of ChristianaCare, Jenn Schwartz, said during the panel that while all of the state’s hospital systems are nonprofit entities, they still have to run viable operations. She pointed to a recent hospital closure in Chester Pennsylvania, and what can happen when hospitals don’t run sustainable organizations.

“You want us to run a smart business,” Schwartz said.

But she also called the current business model of healthcare “broken” and said hospitals need to work toward a system that rewards providers for keeping patients healthy.

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