During a Senate Executive Committee meeting, lawmakers asked Delaware’s new Surgeon General what his plans are to address some of the state’s most pressing health issues.
Social Media
Dr. Neil Hockstein, Gov. Matt Meyer’s pick for Surgeon General, said youth phone and social media use is one of the top issues he wants to focus on, likening it to smoking or a lack or seatbelts in cars.
"The digital world that our kids are growing up in is not safe," he said. "We would never let a 13 or 14 year old go into a casino or a strip club, but they have access to gambling, they have access to pornography."
He plans to partner with the Department of Education to make social media inaccessible on school Wi-Fi networks. And he wants to substitute in, "healthy use of technology."
Senate President Pro tem Dave Sokola pointed out Delaware was part of a large settlement with social media giant Meta. He hopes Hockstein will work with the General Assembly on policies and initiatives related to that settlement.
Hockstein affirmed, "I think this is cross-departmental... We're going to see legislative work that needs to get done, and so we'll need to partner with you for that."
Hockstein was nominated after legislators wrapped up their legislative session back in June. The move prompted pushback from some lawmakers, including Sokola.
"I appreciate you acknowledging a legislative role," Sokola said. "There are some who think there should have been a legislative role in establishing a surgeon general. But going forward there are things we have to do together, and I would hope that would be the standard."
The questioning Tuesday was not a formal confirmation hearing, but an opportunity for legislators to learn more about Hockstein’s plans as Surgeon General, a job he started last month.
State Employee Health Benefits Committee and healthcare costs
As part of the Surgeon General role, Hockstein chairs the State Employee Benefits Committee, which manages state employee healthcare coverage.
Hockstein said Delaware's Medicaid recipients and beneficiaries of state health benefits cover approximately 40% of the state. And leveraging the population is one key to driving healthcare costs down, implementing a value-based care model, and moving to pre-hospital care.
"You have to have a population, because otherwise, all the power lies in the payers and the providers," he said.
He added the state needs to explore options outside the traditional channels to purchase care, "whether that's through a third party administrator or through a pharmacy benefits manager."
He said opportunities to define success in his role will entail declining costs in healthcare and increase numbers of providers in the state. And he pointed out these are made possible through 2025 legislation passed on healthcare workforce data collection. SB 1 passed this year will implement hospital cost controls.
Role with other state groups
Hockstein said his role does not duplicate work by the Dept. of Health and Social Services Secretary, which manages state health departments covering Medicaid and Medicare and public health programs.
He will work between departments on health matters, including on access and affordability, digital media, including gun violence prevention, including some work in health equity,
Hockstein said his role doesn’t require additional funds, and the added oversight will end up saving money. Delaware outpaces healthcare spending benchmarks in 2024, which more than $11 billion in spending.
His position will help, "save tens of millions of dollars from the $11 billion topline... the state budget will be in a better position because of the work that I do."
Hockstein’s questioning Tuesday was not a formal confirmation hearing, but an opportunity for them to learn more about Hockstein’s plans in the new surgeon general role, which he started in last month.
