Hospitals Are the Latest Victims Of ObamaCare's False Promises

Investor's Business Daily ^ | 06/15/2015 | Staff

[IBD editorial writer]

Broken Promises: President Obama recently claimed that ObamaCare is working even better than anticipated. That would be a tough sell to all those hospitals that thought the law would help them make ends meet.

[Sooth2222]

There is one single class that is the largest victim of Obamacare -- patients.

[Pollster1]

Omabacare was a huge monstrosity. I read the entire bill before they passed it, and it is obviously a collection of gifts to those with connections. Anyone who was not specifically chosen as a winner in that corrupt bill before it was signed is a loser, including those ordinary Americans who had to be compelled to participate, and including most hospitals.

[scooby321]

The Supreme Court needs to fix this it and the GOP better not save Obama

[Alberta's Child]

It’s hard to have sympathy for the hospitals in this case. I have nothing against them, but when you have an entire business model built on a system where a third party pays almost all of your customers’ bills you really don’t have a viable business model.

[lowbridge]

Bump

[Artie]

“a viable business model.”

If all of the services provided to all of the patients were reimbursed, it would be viable. I can’t think of another industry in the US that is mandated to provide goods and services to all without any regard for covering costs. Imagine an auto dealership mandated by government to provide anyone who comes into the showroom a car. Not a used car, the highest priced, newest model available, without regard to how the dealer is paid or not paid as the case may be.

[Alberta's Child]

Caring for uninsured patients is a very small part of a hospital's problems ... and I'm pretty sure it only applies to emergency room visits.

A better comparison would be an auto dealership that only sells high-priced models, and yet the dealership lot is filled every day with customers who couldn't afford to buy these cars on their own but have vouchers from a government agency or private company that covers the cost of a brand-new top-model car.

The natural consequences of this scenario are two-fold: (1) the demand for new, high-end cars is far higher than it would otherwise be; and (2) the people who actually pay for these cars (even though they never drive them) eventually figure out the scam and/or run out of money.

[wny]

Only a fool truly thought the law would help them make ends meet. You cannot supply more services to more people at no cost to them and expect either demand or cost to decline. If you do, you’re an economic illiterate. Or a liberal.

[wastoute]

Redundant.

[Gamecock]

If all of the services provided to all of the patients were reimbursed, it would be viable. I can’t think of another industry in the US that is mandated to provide goods and services to all without any regard for covering costs. Imagine an auto dealership mandated by government to provide anyone who comes into the showroom a car. Not a used car, the highest priced, newest model available, without regard to how the dealer is paid or not paid as the case may be.

And lawyers drooling outside the showroom floor if a new car owner drives the car like a crazed teen and runs it off a cliff.

[notdownwidems]

Only a fool truly thought the law would help them make ends meet. You cannot supply more services to more people at no cost to them and expect either demand or cost to decline. If you do, you’re an economic illiterate. Or a liberal.

Exactly the point I tried to make to a physician friend of mine at the time this 'law' was being debated; I mentioned how, if oblahblahcare was to work, it would have to provide health care services to about 40 million more people than were currently provided, all with little or no increase in the amount of people providing the service. His response was that PA's and other professional paramedical people would get their chance to show what they could do. Unconvincing at best. I moved away from the city where we had this discussion; I would be interested to know how he feels about it now.

[PGalt]

We Grubered some folks.

[originalbuckeye]

There are numerous physicians in this country who believe in Nationalized Healthcare. They have never worked under that plan. Nationalized Healthcare is provided by raising taxes by 10+% on EVERYONE. Then you are at the mercy of the Government who DOES decide how much care you will get. No appointments, just go to your local clinic and wait. No specialists unless you are referred by your Primary Care Doc. Nope, no more freedom of choice. You cannot schedule yourself to see an Orthopod if your knee hurts. You must wait for the bureaucracy to work. Months down the line you might get the care you need. I cannot figure out why anyone in this country ever thought this was a good idea. Americans have been used to freedom in their choices of medical care. But then, Obama always said we were spoiled and arrogant.....that we cannot go on using up the world's energy and Europe would just say ‘ok to that’. We need to be taken down a peg and Obamacare is going to do that. My heart breaks for what is coming to our once great country.

[MrB]

That must be what Obama meant when he said the ACA would bend the cost curve down...

[RipSawyer]

“Broken Promises: President Obama recently claimed that ObamaCare is working even better than anticipated. That would be a tough sell to all those hospitals that thought the law would help them make ends meet.”

Actually, I take him at his word on this, to a sane person it is a disaster but since it was intended to destroy the existing health care system it may very well be working better than HE anticipated.

[RipSawyer]

Maybe redundant but I think some liberals ARE economically literate but make a lot of money by pretending they are not. Of course there are millions of useful idiots who think they understand but don’t have a clue. They are the ones who rant against capitalism without realizing in many cases that they themselves are capitalists.

[Jeff Chandler]

[Brad from Tennessee]

When you provide the poor with free goods or services they generally will over-consume. At one time I worked, as a volunteer, with poor families by transporting them for shopping, appointments, etc. With Medicaid they would go to the doctor—and often an emergency room—for every ache, pain and vague symptom of real or imagined ailments.

The ASPCA advises pet owners not of offer free kittens or puppies to the public because invariably those least capable of caring for pets are the first to respond to “free” pets.

[hinckley buzzard]

There is no question that for many of the lower classes, "doctoring" is a recreational activity. A study done years ago but never contradicted, revealed that a good 50% of visits to primary care physicians were made by perfectly healthy people. Mostly people with nothing better to do.

The effects of Obamacare will be to reinforce this pattern.