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>In America, hospitals cannot refuse emergency care. Can they do this in any developed country? >That's why rural areas are losing hospitals. Maybe a system
by p_j_w 3y ago
>In America, hospitals cannot refuse emergency care.
Can they do this in any developed country?
>That's why rural areas are losing hospitals.
Maybe a system with only privately run hospitals is a stupid plan.
- cyanydeez 3y agoSorry, forgot to clarify: most other places provide socialized medicine.
- cscurmudgeon 3y agoSo too in the US. You are probably not aware of the insane socialized mess that is the US health system due to initial good intentions. Medicare, Medicaid, govt supported controls on number of new doctors per year, so much regulation and red tape. The US govt spends more on healthcare than most other nations. If that isn’t socialized medicine, I don’t know what is. Thankfully we are just indirectly socialized unlike our neighbors to the North who suffer from many things like longer wait times for emergencies and vital surgeries.
- supertrope 3y agoIt is hard to operate a rural hospital. Rural areas not only are dwindling in population but tend to be poorer. There's a higher mix of Medicaid/Medicare plans versus employer health plans. With our current fee for service medical service economic model, rural hospitals that don't do as many surgeries or have to transfer people to the city hospital literally send patients and the revenue they bring in off to big cities. Recruiting staff is harder due to in demand professionals wanting the services and opportunities a big city provides. County hospital are partially local taxpayer supported but once again rural areas have a thinner tax base. HHS sends Federal dollars but this is limited. Certain states are trying extra hard to exacerbate the problem by not expanding Medicaid.