Originally Posted By: Halo82
I don't know if Health Care is a "right" in the constitutional sense but it seems to be the right/humane thing to do. What good is all this money the U.S has if we can't help people. Especially on something like Health. So many problems in the world why let people worry about paying for medical care when we can do something about it.


I don't understand how people think health care is only good if it's for profit. HEALTH CARE should be primarily about the well being of patients not about business and the bottom line.

I want DOCTORS deciding who gets treated and if lives are worth saving, not number crunchers, insurers, and boards. It just seems like madness to me to put our lives and the lives of loved ones in the hands of people who's primary concern is turning a profit.

I could quote Jesus Christ again but I won't. We all know his message and it was about COMPASSION and giving, not about maximizing profits. Were we all to actually believe it and not just give lip service to it while sneering about socialism.

As far as it all falling apart.... L.A. County:

 Quote:
Financial woes jeopardize area hospitals

Nearly two dozen are at risk. Losing even a few would mean greater strain on the region's healthcare network.

By Daniel Costello and Susannah Ros

By Daniel Costello and Susannah Rosenblatt, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
September 23, 2007

Nearly two dozen private hospitals in Los Angeles and Orange counties, accounting for up to 15% of beds in the region, are in dire financial straits and in danger of bankruptcy or closure, according to hospital administrators, industry experts and state data.

The troublesome development follows the closure of community clinics and hospitals in recent years that has left the healthcare system seriously overburdened.

We're talking about a system that is already in crisis.
— Carol Meyer, director of governmental affairs, L.A. County Department of Health Services

If even a few other hospitals close or reduce costly critical-care services, it could mean longer ambulance rides to hospitals, additional delays in emergency rooms and less access to care, especially for poor and uninsured people.

Among the hospitals in poor financial health, according to industry analysts, are Downey Regional Medical Center, Centinela Freeman Health System in Inglewood, Brotman Medical Center in Culver City, Century City Doctors Hospital and four Orange County hospitals owned by Santa Ana-based Integrated Healthcare Holdings Inc. including Chapman Medical Center in Orange and Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, one of three trauma centers in the county.

In interviews, senior executives at Centinela and Downey said they were considering closing their emergency rooms. Downey's chief operating officer, Rob Fuller, added that his hospital could close entirely as early as next year if its financial picture didn't improve soon.

"It's fasten your seat belt it's going to be a bumpy ride time," said James Lott, executive vice president of the Hospital Assn. of Southern California, a trade association.

The financial woes result from a multitude of developments:

* An increasing load of uninsured and low-income patients has resulted from overcrowding and the shutdown of public facilities. The number of uninsured patients visiting private hospitals, particularly in poor areas, has increased by one-third in Los Angeles County since 2002. California's Medi-Cal program for the poor reimburses hospitals at one of the lowest rates in the country.

* The closure of Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital in Willowbrook last month left half a dozen nearby hospitals to absorb most of the 47,000 patients who used the public hospital's emergency room last year.

* Smaller community hospitals are drawing fewer patients as a few larger facilities attract a growing share of doctors and insured patients.

* As insurers have consolidated in recent years, they've squeezed many smaller facilities. Private insurance companies generally pay higher rates to larger hospitals with greater bargaining power.

* New, stricter state mandates on nursing ratios have raised labor costs, and a 2013 deadline to retrofit all hospitals to better withstand a major earthquake is estimated to be costing medical facilities $110 billion statewide.......................