More Scrutiny of MUSC’s Mission Creep

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

by WILL FOLKS

***

Back in September, our media outlet published a thought-provoking guest column from South Carolina state representative Luke S. Rankin which questioned the unchecked, unaccountable, taxpayer-subsidized expansion of the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC).

“No one disputes that MUSC provides valuable medical services,” Rankin wrote in his column. “Its hospitals and clinics save lives, train doctors, and conduct research. But here’s the problem: MUSC is also competing directly against private hospitals and health systems across South Carolina, none of whom enjoy a taxpayer subsidy! That is not a level playing field. When government props up one competitor with public dollars, it distorts the market and weakens the private providers who must stand on their own two feet.”

According to Rankin, MUSC has “drifted from (its) mission” – prompting him and others to question whether the system “should continue to receive hundreds of millions in state dollars while competing against private hospitals without that advantage.”

Rankin’s column prompted us to revisit our previous coverage of MUSC – and to dig deeper into its mission creep. That led to us publish a scathing rebuke of the system’s ongoing mission creep last month.

“MUSC’s core function is to train future doctors, nurses and other health care workers to improve the quality of health care for all South Carolinians – and to pursue federal grants for specific research purposes,” I noted in that column. “MUSC was never intended to unfairly compete with private health care systems – whether that be government-subsidized expansions or the purchase of private sector hospitals or, more recently, the state’s largest private physician group.”

***

Over the past six years, MUSC has expanded in Chester, Florence, Lancaster, Marion, Orangeburg and Richland counties (among other locations) – with numerous additional expansions reportedly in the works. These incursions are not only backed by taxpayer funds and taxpayer-guaranteed debt, history has shown they are based on bad financial projections, as well. Its latest Midlands expansion, for example, ran a $240 million deficit during its first three years against projections of a $31.5 million profit.

Despite this massive $271.5 million miss (and other similarly erroneous projections)… lawmakers continue to subsidize MUSC’s expansions with taxpayer appropriations and government-guaranteed debt.

Late last month, a pair of Lowcountry doctors – Marcelo Hochman and Brian Cuddy – penned a guest column in The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier raising additional concerns about MUSC’s expansion.

Drs. Hochman and Cuddy are founders of the S.C. Health Policy Forum, an organization which exists to “foster a collaborative environment where healthcare professionals, businesses, and community leaders unite to advocate for and implement equitable and effective health policies in South Carolina.”

According to its website, the forum’s goal is to promote “informed policy decisions and supporting innovative solutions to drive meaningful change in the healthcare landscape.”

In their column in the Post and Courier, Drs. Hochman and Cuddy argued that academic hospitals exist “to partner with, not compete against, longstanding community hospitals.”

***

RELATED | UNFAIR COMPETITION

***

“MUSC – our state’s flagship academic medical center – has been transforming from a teaching hospital into a sprawling system,” they wrote. “What was once an institution dedicated to tertiary care has evolved into a network of acquisitions and affiliations stretching across the state attempting to provide a ‘one-stop shop.'”

According to Drs. Hochman and Cuddy, “each expansion adds complexity and cost, creating a publicly funded system whose size now rivals those of some state agencies.”

Rather than sticking to its core function, MUSC has “evolved into an expanding statewide health care network whose financial and operational goals seem unchecked,” they noted.

Drs. Hochman and Cuddy believe the implications of this rush toward “concentrated power” are concerning, putting the Palmetto State in a potentially precarious position as it moves “full speed toward a single-system model that leaves patients and practitioners with fewer choices.”

“Do we want a future where our state is in the hospital business, where one state-run system controls nearly every hospital, physician and patient referral?” they asked.

Let me answer that: no, we do not…

Yet sadly, that is exactly where South Carolina is currently headed… and our “Republican” leaders are using your tax dollars (and debt issued in your name) to take us there.

Leaders like Rankin and physicians like Hochman and Cuddy are sounding a critical alarm. Will Palmetto politicians heed their warning? Or continue plunging headfirst into a government-run health care monopoly?

***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

***

WANNA SOUND OFF?

Got something you’d like to say in response to one of our articles? Or an issue you’d like to address proactively? We have an open microphone policy! Submit your letter to the editor (or guest column) via email HERE. Got a tip for a story? CLICK HERE. Got a technical question or a glitch to report? CLICK HERE.