[spintreebob]

"It's a government hospital" in effect, Green says. "It's not like a suburban hospital."

Really?

[cpdiii]

A few years ago I had to take my wife to ER in the middle of the night for uncontrolled bleeding. We have great insurance and as such I was not concerned. I pay a great amount for my insurance.

In the ER waiting room was mostly minorities and illegal aliens. I knew they were illegals by their accents. I speak Spanish and my wife is from Mexico the legal way. She was educated in our universities with multiple degrees in math and computer engineering.

I suspect we were the only person in that waiting room with insurance. It should also be noted when anyone shows up in the emergency room they must be treated. That is the law. They are treated at a great loss to the hospital.

That hospital is now closed due to finances. I do not know the particulars of that hospitals finances. I do know that free treatment contributed to their financial failure.

[Da Coyote]

Single payer medicine: when you want all medical care to be run as well as the Veteran’s Administration runs things.

Oh, except for our elites, of course.

But then again, we’ve got guillotines planned for them.
After they eat some cake.

[DannyTN]

"Really?"

In a sense all hospitals are government hospitals because if you accept Medicare and Medicaid you fall under their regulations. And even if there exists a hospital that doesn't accept those two, the state hospital regulators are so used to the Medicare and Medicaid regulations that you are practically under them anyway.

I'm guessing but I think what he means is that when your patient base is primarily Medicaid, your primary customer is the state government. Those patients can't afford to pay anything that Medicaid doesn't. And Medicaid has much stricter limits on what it will pay than Medicare does. Medicaid is administered by the State. So you are at the state government's mercy with Medicaid patients.

And if most of your patients are Medicaid, you're operating on a thread and a prayer.

That's one of the problems with government mandating emergency care for indigents but not paying for that care.

A provider has to provide emergency care whether the patient has exceeded Medicaid's limits or not.

[fungoking]

Just like Cuba, Medicade for all...except the party members.

[Sergio]

bkmk

[Intolerant in NJ]

Medical center's traumas illustrate struggle of all Medicaid-dependent hospitals...Medicaid is a joint state/federal government program set up primarily for the poor and disabled who contribute nothing money-wise to the program (not sure if they even are responsible for co-pays and deductibles)- Medicare is a federal government project to which most beneficiaries do make significant monetary contributions during their working life - back in the day when I was a non-physician provider covered by both programs, New Jersey Medicaid paid approximately half what Medicare reimbursed for the same procedures - that's why some doctors won't and many others avoid whenever possible seeing Medicaid patients whenever they can - it's a matter of economic survival.....