Gotcha.
Saying that the hospital takes a loss kinda raises another little question
Just from watching the tv show er, I get the impression that there are publicly funded hospitals, and privately funded (businesses essentially) hospitals. Is this the case? And if so do the private hospitals even have emergency rooms, and if they do are they more stringent in the paperwork?
I'm starting to get curious on the details of how the system functions.
This was actually my profession for many years. I was an analyst for the collection of medical bills.
First and foremost, regardless of being private or public, hospitals are businesses.
The hospital and clinic system I worked for was non-profit, which is in and of itself an oxymoron because any business is built on making a profit. The only difference is where that profit is spent. I can't really speak to the private hospitals, but from what I understand they work almost exactly the same as non-profit hospitals, except that the CEOs and other board members rake in more of the profit, rather than reinvesting it in growth.
There are 2 different systems, clinical systems and hospital systems. Clinical systems focus more on specialties and non emergent stuff, the hospital system focuses on emergent care and are more often then not used for any sort of non-ambulatory care(inpatient hospital stays).
It is ILLEGAL for any hospital to turn down an emergent case. So, even though I am a staunch liberal, I do have to agree that we ALREADY have the right to healthcare. It is already built into our hospital systems and government. To argue that we don't is retarded.
The cost associated with that healthcare is the issue, and that what's muddying the waters in the argument. Some people are equating "free healthcare" to "access to healthcare" and they are 2 completely seperate things.
I admit my personal bias when it comes to the issue, but I can't blame the healthcare system for the breakdown of healthcare at all, I place the blame firmly on the shoulders of the insurance companies. They don't do what they were originally intended to do, and quite frankly, with all the bullshit they pull, they are the very reason that healthcare bills are so high in the first place. Most compensation for hospitals are obtained through insurance, so their incessant denial of claims and lowering of fee scales is what is pushing up basic healthcare cost.
If hospitals do not raise their fees to match, they will not be able to expand and buy that shiny new MRI machine that will save hundreds of thousands of lives every year.
Also, any state that I'm aware of REQUIRES that hospitals and clinics have some sort of charity care program for low income individuals, so in essence, they already do provide free health care for low income people.
The problem is when it comes to upper lower-class through the middle class. they are the ones being gouged with extremely high insurance premiums and high deductibles that make it nearly impossible to afford their health care. This is a huge issue because the middle class make up the majority of our population. Hospitals are actually losing money at this point while insurance companies are making profits.
