"Charitable" Hospitals getting RIPPED into

[annofark]

There are a serious of new ads out there that are ripping into Catholic Hospitals. After a friend emailed me the ad I did some research of my own and got pretty angre. Basically these hospitals are given "non-profit" 501c3 tax status yet price gouge the heck out the uninsured. Basically, because insurance companies can negotiate with hospitals on their fees those that don't have insurance, yet don't qualify for medicare are getting hit with astronomical bills. ( article: http://www.suntimes.com/cgi-bin/print.cgi?getReferrer=http://www.suntimes.com/output/knowles/cst-fin-health13.html)

These Catholic hospitals are sitting on piles of profits and paying execs HUGE salaries and turning their backs on those that they could provide "charitable" care to. I am sick of the Catholic church getting away with acting "un-catholic".

[OzarkDem]

1. Not just Catholic hospitals

all of them do it. Uninsured pay much higher rates for care than the uninsured.

[slor]

3. Exactly...

they all gouge the uninsured.

[Cassandra]

6. But Catholic hospitals are the ones...

which carry on about how providing abortions or contraceptive information interferes with the religious beliefs of their staffs. So valuewise, which is it; piousness or greed?

[MountainLaurel]

8. Both

God only rewards the pious. The perspective is that if those poor people were only more faithful or worked harder, they wouldn't be poor. So, the hospitals are just doing God's work in gouging them, since it's obviously their own fault they're poor.

[knitter4democracy]

2. That's because they're not owned by the church anymore.

From what I hear, the "Catholic" hospital my hubby trained at was entirely different when the nuns were in charge. Really, really different--like how a hospital should be run. When they sold it to a "Catholic" hospital corporation, everything changed for the worse, and the sisters are just sick about it but don't have the capital or the manpower to buy it back. What you're seeing in action is a corporation that pretends it's Catholic, not the Church.

[annofark]

4. Then take away their non-profti status

If what that is true what you say knitter4democracy than the church should speak out about it and not let their reputation be smeared any more than it already is.

And then they should have to pay taxes.

[knitter4democracy]

10. In Michigan, all hospitals have to be non-profit.

It's in our state constitution.

My hubby does think that the hospitals here are nicer to patients without insurance than the ones he trained in when he was in med school in Cleveland. He said that they definitely don't kick anyone out, and they are known to erase major parts of the bill (although the doctors who practice often don't--but that's another story) or work with the patient or family to cut the bills down.

[jean]

5. Trivial, but Boston Legal featured a lawsuit against a Catholic Hospital

a few weeks ago. Topic was rape/morning-after pill.

[formercia]

7. The difference between 'charity' and 'non-profit'

A charity gives its services for free or nominal cost. A non-profit means that management pays themselves and their cronies huge salaries to make sure the place doesn't make a profit.

[oscar111]

9. NATIONALIZE...some facts to help

Eng and Germany get housecalls

24 nations outlive us

nationalize all four corners of healthcare:
drs
hospitals
Big Pill
insurance

Kerry only had insurane in his reform idea last year. More is needed.. look at Big Pill.