HEALTH CARE
State commission says Partners expansion would raise costs
Partners HealthCare’s expansion plans suffered a setback Wednesday after a state watchdog agency warned that health care costs for consumers would rise significantly if Partners is allowed to acquire the specialty hospital Massachusetts Eye and Ear. The Health Policy Commission said Partners, the state’s largest health care network, is likely to seek higher reimbursements for care by Mass. Eye and Ear and its doctors if the deal goes through. Because Partners is already a high-priced network, the deal would increase health care spending statewide by $20.8 million to $61.2 million a year, according to the commission. “These spending increases would ultimately be borne by consumers and businesses through higher commercial premiums,’’ the commission said in a lengthy report. The findings are the latest signal that the state’s most powerful health care system will face questions about its expansion plans in Massachusetts as policy makers remain focused on controlling costs. The commission cannot block mergers, but it can refer them to the attorney general’s office, which has the authority to take legal action, and to the Department of Public Health, which separately reviews hospital deals. It has not taken either of those steps, because the report is preliminary.The commission’s critical findings do not come as a shock, given the scrutiny the organization has faced over previous expansion plans. The health system abandoned two planned acquisitions in 2015 after the Health Policy Commission and others raised concerns about costs and market dominance. Partners is the parent company of several hospitals, including Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women’s, two of the largest and most expensive in the state. The hospitals are renowned for teaching, research, and providing complex medical care, but Partners has long been criticized for using its power in the health care market to extract higher payments from insurers and driving up health care costs. Representatives of Partners and Mass. Eye and Ear maintained that their combination would benefit patients. When they announced the deal in January, they said it would not drive up medical costs. Partners spokesman Rich Copp said the health system would review the details of the commission’s report and work to address the concerns. — PRIYANKA DAYAL MCCLUSKEY
TIME ZONES
Report backs year-round daylight saving time, but . . .
A state commission has signed off on a report that says year-round daylight saving time makes sense for Massachusetts. But don’t stay up late wondering about when it might become a reality. In a report approved in a 9-1 vote on Wednesday, the commission made what it says is a data-driven case for not changing the time twice a year, in March and November. But it also notes that remaining on Atlantic Standard Time all year — instead of switching back and forth between Eastern Standard Time — only makes sense if statewide standards are established for delaying school starts and if a majority of Northeast states agree to align their clocks with Massachusetts. The plan would need approval from the state Legislature and the US Department of Transportation. State Senator Eileen Donoghue, a Lowell Democrat who led the commission, said she hasn’t heard if any of her colleagues will submit a bill based on the report. She noted that the time zone shift has been discussed in legislatures in some nearby states. She expects future discussions could take place on a regional level, possibly among governors. “This is the beginning of a discussion, not the end,’’ Donoghue said. The commission found that staying on daylight saving time year-round — essentially adding an hour of afternoon sunlight in the colder months, and subtracting one from the mornings at the same time — could have several positive effects. The shift would help retailers and restaurants, for example, and could curb electricity consumption. It also would keep people from losing sleep as they adjust to the spring transition. — JON CHESTO
MEDIA
To advance merger, CBS and Entercom offload radio stations
Some of Boston’s best-known radio stations will get new owners under a deal unveiled on Wednesday aimed at winning federal approval of Entercom Communications Corp.’s merger with CBS Radio. In one of the biggest shake-ups in Boston radio history, the companies said they agreed to the following moves to get antitrust clearance from the US Justice Department: Ownership of CBS’s news station 1030 WBZ and classic rock mainstay 100.7 WZLX will switch to iHeartMedia, part of a swap in which Entercom will get stations in other cities; Entercom’s R&B station 97.7 WKAF and talk radio outlet 680 WRKO will also move to iHeartMedia; 98.5 The Sports Hub, a CBS station, will be traded to Beasley Broadcast Group, and Entercom will receive WMJX 106.7 and $12 million in return. The deals are expected to be wrapped up early next year. Entercom and iHeartMedia both said it was too early to say whether there would be any changes at any of their stations affected by the deal, but Beasley immediately gave a full-throated endorsement of the format and programming at The Sports Hub. The station broadcasts the New England Patriots, the Boston Bruins, the Boston Celtics, and the New England Revolution, and it features several popular sports talk shows. “I would expect listeners to not see any changes. It’s just going to be different ownership,’’ Caroline Beasley, chief executive of Florida-based Beasley, said in an interview. “The Sports Hub is an amazing brand, they generate amazing content, and there’s nothing that we really want to change at this point.’’ — ANDY ROSEN
HEALTH CARE
Steward sues state over request for financial data
Steward Health Care System, escalating a long-running dispute with state officials, has filed a lawsuit against a Massachusetts agency for demanding details about the company’s operations. Boston-based Steward, a for-profit company that owns nine Massachusetts hospitals, has failed to submit several years’ financial data to the state, racking up more than $300,000 in fines for its lack of transparency. Steward has not paid the fines. In a lawsuit filed in Suffolk Superior Court, the company shot back at state officials. Steward argued that the Center for Health Information and Analysis, which regularly collects financial information from Massachusetts hospital systems, has no right to demand sensitive and proprietary information about Steward. Steward also accused the agency of improperly giving some of the company’s past financial statements to CommonWealth magazine and the Globe, which have reported on Steward’s financial condition. The suit notes Steward’s unique position in the Massachusetts market, where most of the health care providers are nonprofits, with the bulk of their business located in the state. Steward is a privately held for-profit and, as of this year, much of its business is outside of Massachusetts. Because it isn’t publicly held, Steward does not have to detail its finances for the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Steward is the only company that has repeatedly failed to submit companywide financial statements to the state. — PRIYANKA DAYAL MCCLUSKEY
TRANSPORTATION
Plymouth & Brockton having a hard time finding bus drivers
The 121-year-old Plymouth & Brockton Street Railway Co., which runs buses between Boston and Cape Cod, has been dealing with a shortage of drivers in recent months. That’s resulted in scores of canceled trips, and prompted a torrent of complaints from customers about being left stranded with little or no notice — many of whom have few other commuting options. “It’s not the service we want to put out there,’’ vice president Chris Anzuoni said. The lack of bus drivers isn’t limited to Plymouth & Brockton — it’s become endemic to the industry. Blame it on a combination of younger workers being uninterested in driving careers, and a healthy job market that gives them more options for employment that doesn’t involve spending long hours in traffic for relatively low pay. Last month, the situation got so dire that the hiring of one new full-time driver and three part-time drivers prompted Plymouth & Brockton to issue a celebratory press release. The company also has brought on a new recruiting chief to double down on hiring efforts. It now has about 40 full- and part-time drivers, but needs another half-dozen full-timers to be adequately staffed, Anzuoni said. In the meantime, the company is scrambling to use office staff, mechanics, and other employees to cover some runs. Those efforts may be making a difference. Several customers at the South Station bus terminal Thursday said their commutes had been smoother this week, without any cancellations or long delays. — ADAM VACCARO
DRUG INDUSTRY
Watchdog group will assess value of all new medicines
A Boston watchdog group focused on “value-based’’ drug pricing will expand its scope to review all new medicines, as well as price increases on existing treatments, under a new grant. The nonprofit Institute for Clinical and Economic Review said the three-year, $13.9 million grant from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation will allow it to nearly double its staff to about 40 researchers, clinicians, and health economists. At a time when scrutiny of drug prices is intensifying, the goal of the group, known as ICER, is “to provide an independent source of information and analysis so we can get prices more in line with the underlying value to patients,’’ said its president, Steven D. Pearson (left). Tapping a $5.3 million grant awarded by the Houston-based Arnold Foundation in 2015, the watchdog institute has over the past two years published a series of reviews of new prescription drugs that treat conditions ranging from high cholesterol to congestive heart failure. While companies have typically agreed to participate in the reviews, ICER has found in most cases that the drugs have been priced above what it has deemed a fair value range. But until now, ICER hasn’t had the resources to review all new medicines. The additional funding “puts us on a new trajectory,’’ Pearson said. “Now we’re going to be able to cover the landscape.’’ Going forward, Pearson said, ICER will try to begin its reviews about 7½ months before the date the Food and Drug Administration is anticipated to rule on a drug candidate. The reviews would be made public around the time a company sets the price of a newly approved medicine and health insurers decide whether to cover it. While drug companies aren’t bound by the reviews, insurers and consumer groups increasingly are citing ICER’s “value frameworks’’ in negotiating how much they will pay. — ROBERT WEISMAN
