3 ms·

Paying emergency/trauma patients get hit with the accumulated losses from all the trauma/emergency services they have to supply without compensation from the in

Paying emergency/trauma patients get hit with the accumulated losses from all the trauma/emergency services they have to supply without compensation from the indigent and those here illegally. They have to accept everyone and treat them until stable. One MRSA or resistant-TB patient can ultimately cost them seven figures.

maxxxxx 8y ago
I want to see a detailed accounting of the money that floats around. I think the talk about having to compensate for other activities is just excuse.
ericd 8y ago
It's commonly trotted out that the non-paying ER patients force the higher list rate, and while it's a nice sob story cover that distracts from the outrageous audacity of the prices they charge, it just doesn't pass the sniff test. Want to know the daily rental rate for half of a shared room at Stanford's hospital? $17,000. That's not including any of the services, that's just for half of a tiny room. If there was a Four Seasons next to the hospital, it would be a small fraction of the price. That can subsidize a LOT of unpaid medical care. When you tack on the other care for a few days, it comes out to about $100k for a few days and maybe 24 hours of caretaker time during that time. I think the real reasons are much closer to the reason college tuitions are through the roof - a) there are far more "professional hospital administrators" now, drawing large salaries without a direct impact on quality of care, and b) relative price insensitivity by clientele, because they're either not paying for it themselves, or they're desperate for good medical care and are willing to pay any price at the time, and c) egregiously fancy expansions with fine woods everywhere in the lobby, marble, etc.
pas 8y ago
> those here illegally. How come they don't get a bill after treatment?

3 ms·

Paying emergency/trauma patients get hit with the accumulated losses from all the trauma/emergency services they have to supply without compensation from the in

by masonic 8y ago

maxxxxx 8y ago
I want to see a detailed accounting of the money that floats around. I think the talk about having to compensate for other activities is just excuse.
ericd 8y ago
It's commonly trotted out that the non-paying ER patients force the higher list rate, and while it's a nice sob story cover that distracts from the outrageous audacity of the prices they charge, it just doesn't pass the sniff test. Want to know the daily rental rate for half of a shared room at Stanford's hospital? $17,000. That's not including any of the services, that's just for half of a tiny room. If there was a Four Seasons next to the hospital, it would be a small fraction of the price. That can subsidize a LOT of unpaid medical care. When you tack on the other care for a few days, it comes out to about $100k for a few days and maybe 24 hours of caretaker time during that time. I think the real reasons are much closer to the reason college tuitions are through the roof - a) there are far more "professional hospital administrators" now, drawing large salaries without a direct impact on quality of care, and b) relative price insensitivity by clientele, because they're either not paying for it themselves, or they're desperate for good medical care and are willing to pay any price at the time, and c) egregiously fancy expansions with fine woods everywhere in the lobby, marble, etc.
pas 8y ago
> those here illegally. How come they don't get a bill after treatment?