|
|
|
|
|
Steven Michaud spoke at a panel discussion about long-term care in Waterville in May 2025. He stepped back from his job as president of the Maine Hospital Association after 26 years on March 1. Photo by Garrick Hoffman. |
|
|
|
Maine’s outgoing hospital lobbyist says it is impossible to solve problem of rising health care costs
Steven Michaud stepped down on March 1 as president of the Maine Hospital Association after serving 26 years as the state’s top lobbyist for hospitals and after being with the organization for a total of nearly 40 years.
Two days after handing over the job to Jeffrey Austin, who was serving as vice president of government affairs and communications, Michaud, who lives in Durham, talked with The Maine Monitor about how the health care industry has changed in Maine.
Health care affordability was a major problem when Michaud became president of the hospital association in 1999 when Angus King, an independent, was governor. Financial challenges have only gotten worse since then, he said.
“When we look at that now, that was the good old days,” Michaud said. “There’s a reason so many are consolidated into systems and struggling for their lives, out there in rural Maine in particular.” |
|
|
| Read this story |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Private equity has invested more than $1 trillion in debt-financed health care deals in the last decade, according to a report published this month by New York University’s Stern Center for Business and Human Rights.
Studies have found that private equity ownership increased in-hospital complications by 25 percent, trimmed hospital staff by nearly 12 percent and was correlated with an 11 percent higher patient mortality rate in nursing homes, according to the report.
Among its recommendations, the report said state legislatures should “empower state health regulators to block or condition the acquisition of any healthcare business in their state.”
Maine lawmakers are currently considering a bill that would establish a transaction review process when a private equity company, hedge fund or management services organization buys or takes over operations of a health care entity in Maine.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Get in touch: If you have any story suggestions, feedback or corrections, please never hesitate to reach out to me. I love hearing from readers: rose@themainemonitor.org.
The Maine Monitor is a publication of the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, an independent and nonpartisan nonprofit news organization that produces investigative journalism. We believe news is a public good and keep our news free to access. We have no paywall and do not charge for our newsletters. If you value the reporting we do for Maine, please consider making a donation! We cannot do this reporting without your support. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
