Regional News
Beaumont’s new anesthesia model in place at more hospitals.
Irving, Texas-based NorthStar Anesthesia has taken over anesthesia services at Beaumont Health’s hospitals in Royal Oak, Troy and Grosse Pointe, Mich., and associated ambulatory surgery centers and pain clinics, a move that angered some anesthesia nurses, surgeons and physicians when the contract was announced last summer.
With the consolidated contract, which began Jan. 1, NorthStar now offers comprehensive anesthesia services to seven of Southfield, Mich.based Beaumont’s eight hospitals. Last August, NorthStar started managing anesthesia services at Beaumont’s Dearborn, Taylor, Trenton and Wayne, Mich., hospitals and their associated ambulatory surgery centers and pain clinics.
NorthStar replaced Anesthesia Associates of Ann Arbor for four Beaumont hospitals and North American Partners in Anesthesia for three other hospitals. Both anesthesia groups worked at Beaumont for many years and a number of long-serving anesthesiologists left to practice elsewhere over objections to the contract switch.
Beaumont and NorthStar said the national trend has been for hospitals to outsource certified registered nurse anesthetists to work with anesthesiologists in the same company; however, few health systems in Southeast Michigan have outsourced the model to separate companies.
Henry Ford Health System, McLaren Health Care Corp. and Michigan Medicine directly employ anesthesiologists and CRNAs. Some systems, including Trinity Health Michigan, have mixed models where they outsource anesthesiologists and employ CRNAs. ●
This story first appeared in Crain’s Detroit Business, a sister publication to Modern Healthcare.
Texas is a step closer to receiving a federal extension for its Medicaid program that helps cover uncompensated care bills for providers.
CMS Dec. 15 certified that the state’s Medicaid Section 1115 extension waiver is complete and ready to be approved at any time. Last year, the Texas Tribune reported that the state’s 1115 waiver was worth $25 billion.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott requested an exemption in November, citing the public health emergency as its reason for fast-tracking its Medicaid waiver, which is set to expire in 1 ½ years. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. With CMS’ certification, state and federal officials will be able to sidestep a public comment process that analysts say normally lasts up to three months. Critics claim the Trump administration aims to provide a sweetheart deal to a political ally before the Biden administration takes over. If CMS approves the application, Texas will be ensured funds until September 2027.
Anne Dunkelberg, associate director of advocacy organization Every Texan, said the lack of a public comment period has left advocates unable to fight for expanded Medicaid coverage in the state with the highest number of uninsured individuals in the nation. In 2019, the Kaiser Family Foundation reported that 18.4% of Texans lacked insurance. The most recent state data filed in October found that 4.4 million Texans were enrolled in Medicaid, and just under 300,000 local children were enrolled in the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
While the Trump administration has opposed expanding Medicaid, President-elect Joe Biden has said he aims to expand Medicaid to individuals regardless of where they live. Abbott has called the idea of expanding Medicaid “coercive” on the federal government’s part.