Week 5 Health Care

This week’s readings brought up a lot of popularly debated aspects of health care. Many people (including myself) do not know much about how the health care system works. From social security to Medicare and Medicaid, there is a lot to keep up with and a lot to disagree over. I discovered from “The Value of Nonprofit Health Care” that “About 20 percent of Americans aren’t even familiar with the terms nonprofit and for-profit health care, and another 13 percent have “no clue” as to the difference, legally or otherwise”. With so many people voting on health care reform and in effect changing the entire system, that is a troubling statistic. Thus, I am glad we are covering this topic because it is an important one, especially considering the recent buzz surrounding health care reform. I always find that the New York Times is a great source for information and under their “Times Topics” section (a Wikipedia-like breakdown of topics) there is an overview of health care reform that was especially helpful to me: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/health_insurance_and_managed_care/health_care_reform/index.html?scp=1-spot&sq=health%20care&st=cse

A question that the readings brought up was why a hospital would choose to be for-profit. Considering the fact that for-profit hospitals do not share, for example, the tax-exempt status that nonprofit hospitals do, it seems like a risky endeavor to undertake, as hospitals are extremely costly. I did some searching to help answer my questions and found that there is a lot of information regarding nonprofit vs. for profit hospitals. One source I found was the video I included that touches on the legitimacy behind tax exemption for nonprofit hospitals. 

I also found a blog entitled The Health Care Blog by Paul Levy and his post “The Not-For-Profit/For-Profit Divide” related to the assigned article “Mergers of for-profit, non-profit hospitals: Who does it help?” by Jenny Gold. Both sources offered responses as to why a hospital would want to abandon nonprofit status and take the risk associated with for-profit. Levy explains that “in an odd divergence of perspectives, non-profits worry about decreased reimbursement levels resulting from the national health care reform law; they therefore fear that they will lack capital for renewal and replacement of physical facilities and clinical equipment. For-profit investors, in contrast, see the new law as enabling an increased number of insured citizens to show up as patients in their hospitals; they therefore look forward to growing cash flows to reward their risk-taking.” Levy explains that risks must be taken and for-profit hospitals are much more inclined than nonprofits to take on the challenge; big risks have big rewards. Additionally, there is a lot of money to be made in the health care business, especially with the emergence of more insured people seeking medical services. However, it is important to consider that nonprofit hospitals often provide services that for profit hospitals neglect: “For-profit hospitals, she says, are more likely to offer lucrative services, such as cardiac and diagnostic services, while their non-profit counterparts often provide more less-profitable services such as trauma centers, burn centers and alcohol- and drug-treatment programs” (Gold). Although such services are extremely beneficial for patients, they simply are not profitable, and thus are avoided by hospitals concerned with making a profit and pleasing shareholders (“The Value of Nonprofit Health Care”). 

The article about adult ADD highlights another potential danger associated with profit-motivated healthcare with the prescription drug industry as an example. The article argues that not only is prescription writing incentivized, but companies also spend huge sums of money to advertise conditions such as ADD and even new drugs to solve “medical” conditions like insufficient eyelashes and balding. These advertisements cause (and even urge) people to self-diagnose and make recommendations to their doctors instead of the other way around. Regardless of whether or not someone actually has ADD and that the eyelash enhancer can cause blindness, the company who produces the product will do its best to get their product to as many people as possible. Ironically, even in the business of health, when profit is the bottom line, people become secondary.

In sum, being well should not be a luxury reserved for those who can afford the most lucrative treatments and the latest prescription drugs. Health care should be regarded as a basic human right, regardless of whether or not an individual or their condition is profitable. 

A link to Paul Levy's blog: http://www.thehealthcareblog.com/the_health_care_blog/2010/07/the-not-forprofit-forprofit-divide.html