Statement from Treasurer Folwell:
I applaud the Federal Trade Commission for doing its job to protect the consumers of health care in the Lake Norman area. North Carolina has the highest hospital costs in the country and Novant’s proposed purchase of two Lake Norman hospitals would have made the matter worse. High medical and pharmaceutical costs are pushing the State Health Plan (Plan) to the brink of insolvency. Requests for additional funding from the legislature have gone unanswered with the Plan expected to fall below minimal reserves as early as 2025. It is now time for hospital executives, their boards, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, and the North Carolina General Assembly to do their jobs. Hospitals need to put patients over profits and AG Stein needs to protect consumers from the hospital cartel. These mergers aren’t democrat or republican, they are immoral.