Recent staff reductions at Crozer Health have prompted four Delaware County state Senators to re-introduce a legislation package reforming for-profit healthcare systems, writes Kathleen E Carey for the Daily Times.

State Sens. Amanda Cappelletti, D-17; John Kane, D-9; Tim Kearney, D-26; and Anthony H. Williams, D-8 introduced the For-Profit Healthcare Reform package last year.

“Health care in Delaware County is under siege from for-profit operators,” one bill read. “Crozer Health, Delaware County’s major hospital system, is on the brink of collapse. Many of Delco’s 575,000 residents will lose access to health care.”

The three bills would ban for-profit companies from owning hospitals in Pennsylvania, provide a minimum severance for mass layoffs, and require for-profit health systems to file with the Pennsylvania Attorney General before critical transactions are undertaken.

Crozer Health announced last week it was cutting staff systemwide by 215 positions, about 4 percent of its workforce. 

Crozer Health and its parent company, Prospect Medical Holdings in California, face increased costs without seeing increased revenue from contracted health insurance plans like Medicare.  

In one bill’s description, the senators blamed Prospect Medical for acquiring hospitals, generating substantial revenue, then selling the hospital real estate assets to another for-profit entity.

Read more about this legislation in the Daily Times.