FTC chairman hears concerns about Sauk County nursing home sales

This article was produced in partnership with Wisconsin Watch.

Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan made a surprise visit to Baraboo on Thursday, organized by Sauk County residents seeking to increase pressure on state regulators to block the sale of a county-run nursing home. I gave a talk at the event.

The Sauk County Board of Supervisors voted last month to sell the Sauk County Health Care Center to Aria Healthcare, a for-profit company. The nursing home was built in 2008, but the county has operated nursing homes in some form since 1871, from smallpox in the early 1900s to Alzheimer's disease in the 1990s, according to the county's website. It is said to be used to treat various diseases.

Opponents fear that selling public nursing homes will worsen care.

Aria, which did not respond to multiple requests for comment, operates three Wisconsin facilities in the Milwaukee area. One facility receives 39 federal health notifications per year, nearly 30 more than the U.S. average.

“The concerns you have raised about what will happen if this sale goes through are very salient to us,” Khan said.

Three other county commissions in Wisconsin are attempting to privatize public facilities this year. Experts say nonprofit and government-owned facilities across the country are looking to sell, citing rising labor costs and other challenges exacerbated by the pandemic.

“We have been watching with some alarm as more mergers and consolidations mean fewer and fewer companies will control important parts of the health care system,” Khan said. .

The FTC, an independent antitrust enforcement agency, typically reviews sales much larger than the Sauk County Health Care Center's sales. Khan said it is left to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services to decide its fate.

State authorities consider a company's financial stability and past performance when evaluating ownership change applications.

Press Secretary Elizabeth Goodsitt said the state Department of Health has not received an application for the Sauk County facility.

The department has 60 days after the sale to approve or deny the sale.

Last month, the department blocked SSM Health's sale of three nonprofit nursing homes to New Jersey-based Complete Care. This is because the for-profit company frequently receives citations from the federal government. Complete Care operates four nursing homes in Wisconsin. The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services gives one of these homes a “below average” rating.

A Complete Care spokesperson told WPR and Wisconsin Watch in an email: “We have submitted additional information that we believe will address their concerns and look forward to a final decision soon.” spoke.

Sauk County's nursing homes are publicly operated and have an “average” Medicare rating. One of Aria's homes is rated “below average.” The remaining two are “well below average.”

Sauk County Board Chairman Tim McCumber isn't worried about that.

“Aria is dedicated to taking on more difficult cases and they hope the ratings will improve, but it doesn't take much to knock out the ratings,” he said in an interview.

Privatization of public nursing homes continues

David Grabowski, a professor of health policy at Harvard Medical School, says the “harder cases” line of defense is a bit of an excuse. He said in an interview that everyone has the right to quality care, and that research shows residents in public nursing homes often live better lives than those in private housing. There is.

“In fact, the safety net in many markets is government-owned facilities,” Grabowski added.

But local governments have been gradually selling off nursing homes to commercial companies over the past 25 years, he said.

Joyce Meyer, who lived at the Sauk County Health Care Center while recovering from temporary paralysis in her leg in 2020, said the county cannot allow this to happen.

“I'm confident that Sauk County will take care of you, always has, and will continue to do so for as long as we are allowed to,” Meyer said Thursday at a rally in Baraboo. spoke.

The staff called her by name and made her feel like she was more than just a room number.

“I still have nurses who remember me,” Meyer said. “I don’t think you would get that in any other type of nursing home.”