[mr.pink]

Hospitals like Mayo and MD Anderson have a problem since foreign nationals like these Arabs are paying cash customers,

Well said. Also, I'd throw the excellent Cleveland Clinic, which the Saudis poured a ton of money into, into this mix as well.

Besides the "cash payer" angle, when the really big wigs roll in they often take numerous rooms, sometimes whole wings or even whole floors for extended family, friends and servants....that's a mighty big cha-ching to lose.

[white trash redneck]

when the really big wigs roll in they often take numerous rooms, sometimes whole wings or even whole floors for extended family, friends and servants....that's a mighty big cha-ching to lose.

And they can be a big pain in the neck. When I was on the staff at Mass General Hospital, I was walking down the hall on my way to somewhere. One of the wealthy third world thugs whom the MGH admin loves to put up in Phillips was being taken down the hall in the opposite direction, and I got shouldered aside by one of his goons. I called the hospital admin and told them that unless I got an apology that afternoon, I was going to call a friend of mine at the Globe to do an article about, well, third world thugs getting medical care at MGH. No matter that I really didn't have a friend at the Globe. This is an issue that would be red meat for the paper, and the thugs and the admin try to keep this arrangement quiet.

I got my apology.