Proposed merger of Partners, Harvard Pilgrim raises more questions than answers

A proposed merger between Partners Health Care, Massachusetts’ largest hospital network, and Harvard Pilgrim, one of the state’s major insurers, may cut costs for the companies but that doesn’t necessarily mean that savings will be passed onto consumers or employers paying health insurance premiums.

“Show me the money,” said John McDonough, professor of the practice of public health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in a May 9, 2018 interview on WBUR’s CommonHealth. “Where do the savings come from? What will happen to them? And what is the assurance that they will actually occur, in terms of making it a more affordable and thus more accessible system for everybody in the state?”

Nancy Kane, professor of management at Harvard Chan School, was also quoted on the merger in a May 8 Boston Globe article.

Listen to John McDonough’s CommonHealth interview: Paramount Question On Proposed Boston-Area Health Care Mergers: Show Me The Money

Read the Boston Globe article: Experts puzzle over Partners-Harvard Pilgrim merger talks