by Emily Ramshaw
August 13, 2010
The biggest losers in federal health care reform — the country’s physician-owned specialty hospitals — are on pins and needles. With a ban on new facilities, expansion plans quashed and doctor ownership curtailed, 70 such hospitals in Texas are plotting their next move.
Some plan to sell out to big hospital systems. Others are scouring the legislation for legal loopholes and technicalities. At least one of the state’s physician-owned hospitals has sued the federal government, challenging the constitutionality of health care reform.
“They’re looking at the handwriting on the wall, where there doesn’t seem to be a long-term viable plan for their business,” says David Hilgers, an Austin-based attorney who represents hospital companies that partner with physician-owned facilities. “They’re looking for other solutions.”