Wed, 05 Aug 2009

Profit in the Healthcare Debate

It's interesting that you don't hear anything about protecting/enhancing profits in the healthcare debate -- even from the opponents of for-profit healthcare. Yet, to my mind, it is one of the driving factors in the opposition to government run healthcare (read competing for my profits). It seems to me that profits along all points of a for-profit healthcare system is one of the major factors for the outrageous increases in health care costs in the U.S. After all, my doctor, the lawyers, the phramaceutical, insurance and hospital executives don't drive 10-year old Pintos, they are driven around in luxury limos and they don't live in my neighborhood, they are residents of several houses in luxury neighborhoods.

Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with making a profit. After all, it's what makes our society tick. But should the profit motive be part of healthcare? I don't think so. As I listen to the healthcare debate, and I hear the insurance industry backs reform, what I really hear is "we have found a way to make a great deal of money from reform" [at least the element of reform that they are backing]! When I hear the for-profit hospital or pharmacy executives saying the same thing I hear, "here comes a better bonus for me as I increase quarterly profits". When I hear lawyers backing reform, I hear, "more law suits are coming my way"! And the politicians on both sides don't mention the profit motive because it's just that motive that increases their campaign coffers. They don't want to reduce that flow by reducing the profits of their constituencies you can bet.

So what do we do? I'm not sure. It seems that we will continue to have profit-driven health care in the States. So, the best we can hope for is to align the profit motive with the health of the country to improve outcomes. Perhaps we need to reward the profit-driven companies for keeping people healthy and reduce payments when people use the emergency rooms. It's a thorny question because so many groups -- insurance, hospitals, pharmacy, lawyers, doctors, politicians . . . -- have a vested interest in the status quo. Unless we can show greater profit resulting from something actually benefiting the healthcare buying public as a whole, things are likely to continue as they are now and the benefits to these powerful lobbies will continue to grow at the expense of the rest of us.

posted 07:34 [/Politics] permanent link