Healthcare: Now more than ever it is becoming a privilege.
How do we as a country solve the problem of escalating costs associated with healthcare? I have written several pieces regarding the business aspects of healthcare and how in some cases the business portion of providing care is killing us. Reports have been in the news of late listing the death rates per state of people that die prematurely because they don’t have adequate health insurance. We have all read ad nauseam article after article about the reimbursement problems providers and hospitals are having, the mounting bad debt that healthcare organizations are carrying, and many such stories. At this point even for a healthcare provider the news makes me weary, and to read yet another story or blog entry is becoming difficult. Many times I just want to ignore it all and go and put on Sponge Bob on Nickelodeon.
More uplifting news about healthcare is reported in today’s U.S. News which tells of hospitals checking patient’s health credit scores to see if they will be able to pay for what ever services they are seeking. If patients are found to have poor or risky credit scores it impedes their ability to obtain care.
In 2006, “uncompensated care”—mostly either charity care or unpaid patient bills—cost hospitals $31.2 billion, according to the American Hospital Association. “There’s a growing number of individuals that are looking at copays or have a deductible,” says Tim Hurley, a spokesperson for Healthcare Analytics…
Patients are no longer patients, they are customers; and to get in past the front lobby you have to prove you can pay. This approach puts a big dent in the patient centered care model that many speak of.
A sad but true story, there is no free lunch out there anymore. I used to work with a fellow nurse at one hospital who injured his thumb with a knife and damaged his tendons. He needed surgery. He even had health insurance. The hospital where he worked said that he had to come up with $5000 ahead of time to make up for what his insurance company wasn’t going to pay for, before they would let him have surgery. In the end he had his surgery after putting a dent in his savings account.
In the future will care be denied to those who don’t have adequate credit scores? Who knows, in today’s healthcare market it wouldn’t surprise me if it already is happening. The bottom line is that healthcare is now making a transition from being an individual right, to a privilege for those who can pony up. Again my advice would be to save and stay healthy.
About the Author
Mike Pringle is the author of Healthcare Today where he offers commentary and insight regarding today’s healthcare issues. Additionally he provides regular commentary for Red Scrubs and editorial content for Future Healthcare. He has over 20 years of nursing experience working both domestically and internationally. Mike has a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing and a Masters Degree in Public Administration with a Healthcare emphasis. He specializes in both Emergency and Critical Care Nursing. He currently works at Falmouth Hospital as a Shift Manager for the emergency department.
