Chapter five of Nonprofit Nation focused in on a sector that’s near and dear to my heart (no pun intended) – Health Care.
I really enjoyed the debate over whether nonprofit healthcare still deserve their tax exempt status or if they are just “for-profit’s in disguise”. The chapter goes on to tell us that nonprofit health care agencies receive most of their revenue from payments for service and only 0.3% from gifts, grants, and private sources. This lead me to seriously consider what motivates hospitals and the like to provide services to people without insurance who cannot afford to pay. If people without insurance could be quietly turned away nonprofit hospitals could keep their tax exempt status and rake in the money. I’d like to think that this is in no way common practice but there are people out there who don’t have anywhere else to turn and not a lot being done to insure that they are all given the proper care. I realize that nonprofit does not equal low cost but every person should have a right to be healthy, or at least the right to seek good health.
It it saddens me that decisions made by health care agencies today seem to be focused on economics and good business practices rather than ethics and the value of a human life. I found this article that you might find interesting which talks about the marginalization of the uninsured and the current trend towards creating outpatient centers in wealthy neighborhoods.
It’s a bit of a long read but if you have the time it presents an interesting side of the healthcare saga.
The article from the Alliance of Advancing Nonprofit Health Care was great but clearly more than a little biased. Their list of community benefits was vast and looked wonderful on paper but I don’t know how much I trust that all these things are actually happening, and if they are to what degree. For example, at one point the article states that nonprofit health care will “charge no fee or a discounted fee to uninsured, low-income, or medically indigent patients for needed health care services”. In my personal experience this discount is miniscule and you are more likely to simply rack up hospital debt than to actually pay less.
The article titled Mergers of for-profit, non-profit hospitals: Who does it help? Posed some interesting questions. I know it may sounds like I’m harping on nonprofit health care but I still do believe that the nonprofit sector can do a better job than the for-profit one. I just worry that the two sectors are becoming one and the same. Is truly affordable health care available anywhere?
The CBS News article on adult ADD was probably my favorite article this week. I have to say that I agree with many of the statements made by Caplin. Especially when he says that while he has no doubt that some adults have problems with attention there are not 8 million of them, because if you went to Germany, or Japan, or Britain, you don't find them. I’m sure that some people involved in production and marketing of an ADD “cure” have good intentions but prescription drugs are a multi-billion dollar industry and we’ve created a pill pushing culture where 46% of Americans take at least one prescription pill daily (according to a survey published in The San Diego Union-Tribune). People want answers to the problems in their lives and I feel like drug companies have a tendency to exploit these insecurities.
I’ve never been a huge football fan but I really enjoyed the article on the Green Bay Packers. I like seeing nonprofit ideals prospering in a creative previously unexplored setting. Additionally, I don’t believe that this is the only arena where the mindset of “maybe we don’t need owners at all” can and should be applied. It’s no secret that corporate America is pulling more and more of the strings that affect our daily lives. Maybe it’s time to cut a few?
Asia,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post. It saddens me also that the healthcare industry seems more motivated by money rather than treating the sick and injured. Thats the part that does not make me proud to be an American. I get the feeling that the healthcare issue will never be solved. What I do know is that every citizen should have access to healthcare regardless of class (thats another argument).
Wow, thanks for the stats on our pill-society. I had no idea that 46% of us take at least one prescription pill each day. That does not seem right. Are there that many people sick or injured, or just misdiagnosed and helping the drug companies get richer?
Hey Asia, I definitely agree with you that since nonprofit hospitals are only getting .3% of their revenue from grants, aid, and private sources, we must review their nonprofit status if we want to improve the health care system. I am also saddened by the fact that health care decisions are made from the pocketbook, not the heart.
ReplyDeleteAsia,
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that there are non-profit health care providers who are skirting the system and turning people away (and should have their non-profit status removed) I don't see it as a problem that so little of their revenue is donations, grants etc. A hospital has such a huge amount of money that they spend per day that small amounts of money that most people give wouldn't really help. Only really large amounts (like in the millions) would probably really help hospitals. Also, because hospitals charge people so much money because health care, even at a non-profit, costs so much money possible donors aren't going to want to give money. They're going to want to give money to something where their $50 or $20 is going to do easily visible good.
Asia, I really appreciate your comments on the CBS article on ADD medication. I agree that large corporations tend to exploit peoples' desire for a solution or "cure." Furthermore i agree with your thoughts on the NFL. Players/Coaches and fans are all that are really needed to run any sort of athletic competition. If teams and their fans could all form the type of symbiotic relationship that is occurring in Green Bay, I think professional athletics could bring back the type of large scale philanthropy that we discussed in weeks one and two.
ReplyDelete