We had reported here five days ago that our state treasurer, Brad Briner, was taking Atrium to court over its shady maneuvers to enable its overcharging the State Health Plan. He lost his initial plea in court for a restraining order.
In response to his defeat in court, he is taking Atrium out-of-network completely.
Briner is doing what he can to act as a fiduciary for the State Health Plan and maintain its financial integrity.
It should be noted, however, that this entire episode was precipitated by a plan he enacted to place certain providers at a higher tier; and thereby make it more likely State Health Plan members will use those providers. He is essentially picking winners and losers. What is critically important to understand is that his plan advantages large corporate health care corporations like hospital systems over other smaller, more independent types of providers. The hospital systems, for instance, can offer the discounts he seeks by “cashing in” on certain highly profitable services such as orthopedics and cancer care and heart care. And these larger corporations have a stronger negotiating position than those smaller and independent providers.
So while Briner on the surface appears to be acting in a fiscally responsible manner, he also created a playing field slanted toward large corporate players like hospital systems. That was not the case under his predecessor, Dale Folwell.
Those corporate players such as those advantaged by Briner often give money to political campaigns, directly or indirectly. Let’s keep all of this in perspective.
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