Delaware’s oversight board loses ability to modify, veto hospital spending

Delaware’s hospital oversight board, formed in 2024 to reduce hospital spending in the state, is on the ropes.

According to Spotlight Delaware, the Diamond State Hospital Cost Review Board has “lost one of its principal enforcement levers” after the state’s House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill Thursday that would end a lawsuit brought by ChristianaCare, the state’s largest hospital system, regarding the law that created it. The bill was expected to be signed by Gov. Matt Meyer on Friday.

The outlet reports that this follows an October agreement between ChristianaCare and Delaware officials, after which the board has not met. “The future efficacy of the board remains in question,” writes Spotlight Delaware.

Senate Bill 213, introduced late last year, is part of a “proposed legal settlement between ChristianaCare and state officials,” writes the outlet, that stems from ChristianaCare’s 2024 lawsuit that challenged the formation of the board, which was granted “the power to modify and veto budgeted spending by private hospitals.” ChristianaCare agreed to dismiss the case “as long as the state removed the board’s budget veto powers.”

ChristianaCare Vice President of Government Affairs Meredith Tweedie stated support for the bill’s passage to Spotlight Delaware via email, saying it provides a “collaborative, transparent framework in which hospital systems and the state are working together to address healthcare affordability while still prioritizing access, quality and our healthcare workforce.” The Delaware Healthcare Association likewise lauded the legislature for its “swift action,” with CEO Brian Frazee telling the outlet that the affordability issue requires “all-hands-on-deck” collaboration between state officials and hospitals.

Read Spotlight Delaware’s full report here.