Coronavirus Outbreak

[Josh]

Considering most hospitals are nonprofits, they should be publicly announcing that they won’t be charging anything for covid2019 related care, as part of their nonprofit mission to serve public health.

But they won’t as they would mean a smaller bonus for their executives and senior administrators, and then they’d have to settle for a new 5 series instead of a 7 series or Model X with all the latest gadgets.

[AnthonyMartin]

Considering most hospitals are nonprofits, they should be publicly announcing that they won’t be charging anything for covid2019 related care, as part of their nonprofit mission to serve public health.

But they won’t as they would mean a smaller bonus for their executives and senior administrators, and then they’d have to settle for a new 5 series instead of a 7 series or Model X with all the latest gadgets.

Why covid19 specifically versus any other disease? Maybe we should only charge the rich.

[Josh]

Considering most hospitals are nonprofits, they should be publicly announcing that they won’t be charging anything for covid2019 related care, as part of their nonprofit mission to serve public health.

But they won’t as they would mean a smaller bonus for their executives and senior administrators, and then they’d have to settle for a new 5 series instead of a 7 series or Model X with all the latest gadgets.

Why covid19 specifically versus any other disease? Maybe we should only charge the rich.

Medical care is already cheap or free for the poor in this country; the people who have to actually pay their bills are the middle class.

Regardless, perhaps it’s best to start small with something reasonable than to just expect everything to be free, particularly when there is a compelling public health imperative. (There isn’t a public health imperative for providing free healthcare to people who refuse to manage their Type 2 diabetes, yet we provide massive amounts of free health care to people who then go home and resume drinking 2 litres of Dr Pepper.)

[Ken]

Considering most hospitals are nonprofits, they should be publicly announcing that they won’t be charging anything for covid2019 related care, as part of their nonprofit mission to serve public health.

But they won’t as they would mean a smaller bonus for their executives and senior administrators, and then they’d have to settle for a new 5 series instead of a 7 series or Model X with all the latest gadgets.

Why covid19 specifically versus any other disease? Maybe we should only charge the rich.

Medical care is already cheap or free for the poor in this country; the people who have to actually pay their bills are the middle class.

Regardless, perhaps it’s best to start small with something reasonable than to just expect everything to be free, particularly when there is a compelling public health imperative. (There isn’t a public health imperative for providing free healthcare to people who refuse to manage their Type 2 diabetes, yet we provide massive amounts of free health care to people who then go home and resume drinking 2 litres of Dr Pepper.)

That’s actually not true, especially in southern states that did not expand Medicaid under the ACA. In Texas, for example, the income limit for a single adult to qualify for Medicaid is something ridiculous like $275/month. For the children’s programs like CHIP it is higher, but for ordinary poor adults with any kind of income at all there is basically no coverage.

If this crisis really expands, it is going to completely expose a lot of cracks in our heath care system. That someone can be sent court-enforceable random medical bills with completely made up numbers that they never have to justify should already be criminal fraud.

But we may soon see a lot of low level medical staffers get infected and put into the ICU units at their local hospitals and then get hit with massive medical bills for treatment in their own hospitals for an illness that they caught working at the same hospital.

Bernie Sanders is going to start looking better and better. And I am not a fan of Bernie Sanders.

[Josh]

That someone can be sent court-enforceable random medical bills with completely made up numbers that they never have to justify should already be criminal fraud.

Agreed. The ACA should have mandated transparency in billing. Or the individual states should set laws around overcharging and collecting “debts” for outrages like $75 for a single Tylenol.

[justme]

A few weeks ago, the WHO and CDC said it was a low risk, and Trump repeated that.

Some people like myself were saying it was a big deal and couldn’t agree with the WHO and CDC saying the risk was low.

what did you base your statement on, at that time?

I work around a lot of risk management professionals including people with expertise in mainland China, and they all thought it was a high risk. (It’s notable that IBM, Verizon, and AT&T all pulled out of attending RSAC 2020, for a public example.)

thanks for your answer.

[justme]

The government ordered them into quarantine/observation against their will and it turned out they didn't even have the virus in the first place. Whey should they have to pay a dime for any of it?

i tend to agree.

[Ken]

Considering most hospitals are nonprofits, they should be publicly announcing that they won’t be charging anything for covid2019 related care, as part of their nonprofit mission to serve public health.

Non-profits?

The CEO of Ascension Health, the largest Catholic "non-profit" hospital chain in the country earned a whopping $59.1 million in 2017. That's some pretty nice non-profit.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamandrze ... f207bb19df

[Josh]

Considering most hospitals are nonprofits, they should be publicly announcing that they won’t be charging anything for covid2019 related care, as part of their nonprofit mission to serve public health.

Non-profits?

The CEO of Ascension Health, the largest Catholic "non-profit" hospital chain in the country earned a whopping $59.1 million in 2017. That's some pretty nice non-profit.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamandrze ... f207bb19df

The question needs asked why executive compensation has skyrocketed whilst the pay for everyone else just keeps up with inflation.

Costs to consumers have gone up much faster than inflation.

Many of these hospitals were built with community support, donations, and fundraisers. And now they’re plundered for what is essentially private gain.

Something’s gonna have to change.

[RZehr]

I agree.
Our medical system is unbearable. From pricing, to patient choice, to transparency, to consistency, to executive pay, to medical malpractice liability, it is a broken mess.