Louisiana State University announced this month that the downtown medical campus it hopes to share with the Department of Veterans Affairs could ramble over more than 70 acres, consuming a neighborhood that includes empty buildings, weedy parking lots and a patchwork of viable and neglected homes.It ain't state of the art. But it's there.
As the state gears up to spend tens of millions buying this property -- in some cases invoking the power of eminent domain to force out unwilling owners -- the hospital where LSU cared for indigent patients and trained generations of doctors stands idle a few blocks away on Tulane Avenue.
I guess there's not enough money to be made in "good enough."
3 comments:
Not enough money. Exactly.
The noble days of healthcare are over, for the most part. It's a big business that follows the BB blueprint.
Healthcare for indigent people in this country is a disgrace.
You need to understand that our government at the Federal Level has created their totally looking glass work where a hospital must attempt to charge the "uninsured" exorbitant prices against which Medicare and Medicaid get ridiculous discounts while most of the population, represented by insurance companies gets a discount almost as steep as the Medicare and Medicaid get.
If on the other hand you are willing to pay cash you can get an even better deal.
The real kicker is the Federal Employees get great coverage because the Feds are willing to pay more than anyone else for their peeps.
Medicare and Medicaid don't "get" discounts...healthcare providers have no choice but to "participate" which means "accepting" what they allow. It's against federal regulations *not* to apply the discount.
As for Managed Care, the concept was admirable in theory but in practice the large payers (UHC, Aetna, Cigna) have such a lockhold on corporate America's business that they have the upper hand during contract negotiations, as far as non-profit or free-standing hospitals go. Now, corporate healthcare such as Tenet or Columbia are another story. I've seen both sides.
As far as the uninsured goes, it's illegal for any hospital ER to turn away a patient based on financial reasons.
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