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Hospitals could also be charging insurance companies more, but not for subsidizing cash patients but for greater profit.
by youeseh 7y ago
Hospitals could also be charging insurance companies more, but not for subsidizing cash patients but for greater profit.
- vonmoltke 7y agoFor-profit hospitals, maybe, but what about the non-profit ones?
- moate 7y ago"non-profit" doesn't mean "doesn't make money" its just rules on how you have to spend that money. There's nothing saying a non-profit can't raise prices of service and then expand the hospital to buy a new wing, or better equipment or hire more doctors. They need the money to provide their services.
- vonmoltke 7y agoI understand that, but there is a limited amount of that which can be done before it becomes spending for spending's sake, which is pointless. Also "expand the hospital to buy a new wing, or better equipment or hire more doctors" sounds like exactly what they should be doing, because it means they can service more people at a higher standard of care (which is the reason they exist in the first place).
- pkaye 7y agoI found this interesting article on the situation. They say 1/3 are profitable, 1/3 are break even and 1/3 are losing money. And a lot of those losing money are in rural areas. And "In general, hospitals lose money on Medicare and Medicaid patients, but make up for that by charging private-sector insurers more." https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/hospitals-made-21b-wall-street-last-year-are-patients-seeing-n845176 https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/hospitals-mad...