Delaware’s Hospital Cost Cap Statute Hit With Legal Challenge

A Delaware law capping certain health care costs and establishing a hospital budget review board unconstitutionally injects the government into medical decisions, a regional health provider alleged in a lawsuit filed Monday.

Christiana Care Health System Inc. sued Gov. John Carney (D), saying the statute unlawfully overrides the judgment of hospital boards, giving ultimate authority over their core affairs to a “super-board” of unelected bureaucrats—"all to serve the political interests of the executive branch.”

The lawsuit targets HB 350, which Carney signed in June. The statute created a government-run body, the Diamond State Hospital Review Board, to oversee the price ...