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This does remind me of a story one of my professors told us.
I went to a small, Catholic(in name only, lol) college in Vermont, and this guy taught Christian Healthcare ethics as well as a class called Work, Capital and God.
He is a relatively big name in Vermont academic and business circles, and he used to be on the board of a Catholic, read charitable hospital. It was set up as a non profit. Donations were a part of the revenue stream.
What did this board he was on suggest they do to cut costs? Get rid of the nurses' union and start treating less of certain diseases, etc.
I am not saying either move was right or wrong, just that "charitable" hospitals, when put in the same market of providing care, faced with the same realities of the system as every other for profit hospital, they will behave the same way.
They have to stay in business, after all. Have to pay doctors, nurses, pay for equipment, training, beds, etc. Doctors will not work for free.
As for donations covering the costs, donations move up and down with a lot of different variables(how do you think charitable giving is doing with 10% unemployment?) and are not a reliable, consistent and (relatively) predictable revenue stream.
At least with the current system, you know how much Medicare/Medicaid and private insurance companies reimburse for certain procedures and have a general idea of the breakdown of what you see at your particular hospital and in what volume and can budget from there.
As for a 1-1 tax credit as AEON suggested, it would probably help spur charitable contributions, but a lot of people still are not in a financial position to be able to wait until tax season to break even on any given contribution. If you are donating a significant amount to charity, the local real estate developer, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, the local software company owner or marketing executive, odds are your income is high enough that the tax credits, while nice and welcome, do not factor very much into the decision to donate.
there are many major cities that don't even have charitable hospitals, and those that do often aren't that charitable.
This does remind me of a story one of my professors told us.
I went to a small, Catholic(in name only, lol) college in Vermont, and this guy taught Christian Healthcare ethics as well as a class called Work, Capital and God.
He is a relatively big name in Vermont academic and business circles, and he used to be on the board of a Catholic, read charitable hospital. It was set up as a non profit. Donations were a part of the revenue stream.
What did this board he was on suggest they do to cut costs? Get rid of the nurses' union and start treating less of certain diseases, etc.
I am not saying either move was right or wrong, just that "charitable" hospitals, when put in the same market of providing care, faced with the same realities of the system as every other for profit hospital, they will behave the same way.
They have to stay in business, after all. Have to pay doctors, nurses, pay for equipment, training, beds, etc. Doctors will not work for free.
As for donations covering the costs, donations move up and down with a lot of different variables(how do you think charitable giving is doing with 10% unemployment?) and are not a reliable, consistent and (relatively) predictable revenue stream.
At least with the current system, you know how much Medicare/Medicaid and private insurance companies reimburse for certain procedures and have a general idea of the breakdown of what you see at your particular hospital and in what volume and can budget from there.
As for a 1-1 tax credit as AEON suggested, it would probably help spur charitable contributions, but a lot of people still are not in a financial position to be able to wait until tax season to break even on any given contribution. If you are donating a significant amount to charity, the local real estate developer, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, the local software company owner or marketing executive, odds are your income is high enough that the tax credits, while nice and welcome, do not factor very much into the decision to donate.