The Pros And Cons Of Non-Profits Of Hospitals

has the world’s most expensive healthcare system, yet one-sixth of Americans are uninsured. Approximately one-third (31%) of adults and a little more than one-half (54%) of children do not have a primary care doctor. Federal spending on healthcare in 2005 alone totaled $600 billion, a massive one-quarter of the federal budget. Someone files for bankruptcy every 30 seconds in the U.S of health concerns. And every 1.5 million families lose their homes to foreclosure due to unaffordable medical costs. The U.S. spends six times more per capita on the administration of the health insurance system than Western European nations, who insure all citizens.“ www.realtruth.org/articles/090203-005-health.html. “In United States, the annual cost of health care per capita is $5,711. http://www.visualeconomics.com/healthcare-costs-around-the-world_2010-03-01/#ixzz12f0I1lbk

The purpose of this paper is to conduct a comparative analysis between for-profit hospitals and not-for-profit hospital. It will discuss the characteristics of each as well as factors affecting the operations of both systems. Additionally, it discusses potential areas of improvement and some of the challenges associated with each relative to finance and operations.

“The Bitter Pill: Why medical bills are killing us” written by Steven Brill delves into the question as to why medical bills are so high. As Brill begins his research he analyzed bills from hospitals, doctors, and drug companies. Additionally, he interviewed doctors, Medicare and insurance administrators, and gathered patient stories across the nation. He found that the United States spent more money on healthcare than any other developed countries, he stated “We may be shocked at the $60 billion price tag for cleaning up after Hurricane Sandy, [however], we spent almost that much last week on healthcare” (Brill 2013). He also noted “yet in every measurable way, the results our healthcare system produces are no better and often worse than the outcomes in those countries” (Brill 2013). From the charts and graphs that Brill provided shows that the sixty percent of personal bankruptcy filings per year are related to medical bills. Life expectancy in the United States is the lowest amongst the countries that spend most on healthcare, our infant mortality rank is fiftieth in the world, and that one pill cost as much as seven pills in other developed countries such as France. Brill found that in many similar cases, like that ones he presented in the article, Medicare would have at least paid for a small portion of the bill. However, those who don’t qualify for Medicaid and don’t have insurance are often asked to pay excessive prices.

Another reason for the rising cost of healthcare is the cost of physician care, according to the American Hospital Association “the cost of physician care, both to insurance and patients, has risen 1.3% during the past year.” Because of this increase doctors are put in a corner, they are already locked into an agreement with the insurance companies and do not have much ‘wiggle’ room to negotiate fees and rates. So because of this the patients and consumers are forced to pay a much larger sum. Since there are higher costs and the insurers will not cover them, they are distributes to the customers through higher deductibles, co-insurance, and

America: The Land of the Free. Or, as someone who is familiar with the US health care system would call it, America: The Land of Overpriced Health Care That Covers a Fraction of it’s People. The US spends more money on their health care than any other country, yet there is a myriad of problems that exist within the system preventing it from being efficient. Billions of dollars are poured into the system for medication and treatment, when a lot of this spending is unnecessary.

Carol Liebau discusses in her article, “ObamaCare Limits Patient Choice”, that hospitals such as Cedars-Sinai and the Mayo Clinic are high-priced and under competitive pressure because of Obamacare. Insurance corporations are in a larger hurry than ever to cut costs (Liebau). However, Americans are coming to realize that those hospitals aren't just thoughtless profit centers. They are pricey because they provide advanced medical care or they offer the specialized treatments that the most ill patients require. Many Americans who had plans they could afford and had access to leading healthcare providers, find that under ObamaCare, they are being excluded from high-quality care unless they want to pay much more for

Hospitals also attempt to provide every available service to their patients, some say in an attempt to do everything they can as a medical professional, others as a way to squeeze every last penny from a sick individual and even others a means to ensure patients do not sue the hospital for not carrying out their duties to the fullest. The major problem with hospitals and how they relate to healthcare however is the fact that your local hospital basically runs a monopoly system. In an emergency an American does not have the luxury to shop around the area hospitals looking for the best price they can, they are rushed to the nearest emergency room and are subject to the costs of care given. Americans have no say on the price of procedures, operations and medicines because they cannot use a market system to hold hospitals accountable for their prices. Furthermore, hospitals like any other business may merge to consolidate their power and financial influence. For example, the 1993 merger between two eminent Harvard-affiliated hospitals, Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital created a city wide influence on healthcare costs. When the two most prestigious hospitals in the state pooled their resources and merged, insurers and by extension their patients, had incredibly fewer options inside the city to take their money to. This new massive healthcare corporation, Partners HealthCare, could

“The U.S. spends nearly twice as much money per capita on health care as other developed nations, yet the metrics show that Americans end up with worse care and poorer health.” (Hill) The rising cost of healthcare has pushed some non-profits to become for-profit organizations.

Throughout the modern era of the United States, one constant issue in society is free healthcare. This issue is not just an issue in the United States, but also in the whole world. Many other countries have made drastic changes in order to fix or at least attempt to fix this issue in their own country, but the U.S. has not done very much. Many Americans believe that free healthcare is something that tax paying citizens should be entitled to. These citizens of the United States ask why and how do many other countries have free healthcare, but the U.S. does not. These citizens ask this because they consider the fact that the United States is a very powerful country, but there are many other poorer countries around the world that have free healthcare.

The debate on whether all healthcare institution should be non-profit rises many issues and they have been heavily debated. The best way to examine this to analyze if non-profit hospitals are in fact better that for

Another benefit associated with free health care system is that it preserves life as it ensures free treatment to the entire citizens despite their financial status. Apparently, the life of a human being is sacred and incomparable with any amount of money. It is unethical for an individual to die due to lack of finance. As stated by Obama, the United States is known to have the most skilled doctors and healthcare facilities in the world (526). Ironically, the two third of the Americans have no access to health insurance cover, meaning, they cannot afford to get the health services from the best doctors and the best facilities in the country. To protect life and to avoid unnecessary deaths of the innocent citizens, free access to medical services should be a distinct system to be employed in the United States of America.

The difference between for-profit and non-profit hospital has been debated for a long time. The established of the two differentiates institutions of health has also had controversial twists concerning their societal role. For-profit hospitals are said to be after money more than service delivery, while non -profit are not. Both hospitals use their market power in a similar way that it is sometimes hard to differentiate their behavioral characteristics. From research, it has shown that knowing the differences is relevant.

Health Care, like all other services comes at a financial cost. While we should strive to make health care available and affordable to all, the bottom line is that it is a service that can only be provided if the voting populous agrees on its need. Basic human rights do not cost money. We have the right to life and liberty which is great and we do not have to pay for it. We have the right to basic medical care as well. But we can only have that if other people

Steven Brill feels that American health care is eating away at our economy and our treasury and discusses the costs associated with the provision of health care services in the U.S.. The article explores the medical world through the medical expenses incurred by a 64-year-old Janice S., Sean Recchi, A 42-year-old from Lancaster, Ohio and several other egregiously billed patients. The article poses the question: why exactly are the medical bills so high; in particular hospital bills?

I chose to compare the operation management between the for-profit hospitals to non-profit hospitals. I chose this topic because I have worked for both. My degree is going to be Associates of Occupation Health for Medical Billing and Coding. I am also a License Practical Nurse. In Fort Smith were I last worked we had a private owned hospital, Non-profit hospital and a community owned hospital. People had a choice on where to go. Around here in Tulsa there are multi hospitals to choose from.