Medicare/Medicaid exist to line BIG "HEALTHCARE's" pockets.

[Tyler Durden]

No other reason.

I worked for almost 3 years in one of the largest Medicare/Medicaid heavy systems in the entire country at the time EPIC Healthcare. Don't bother with a GOOGLE, they don't exist anymore, their hospitals parsed and sold.

The outfit I worked for was called PARKWAY HOSPITAL. It's been bought out of system, but back then they were about 90% Medicaid, essentially a clinic for welfare recipients.

It scares me that I remember all this so well after almost 15 years. This is as I remember it:

ER beds/cubes: 10
Average load in the ER per night: >100
Average patients: CHF/COPD (seniors), fever/Nausea-vomiting-diarhea/respiratory (children).
Average billing to Medicaid: over $200 just to be SEEN.

That's right kids. $20,000 PER NIGHT just to be SEEN. Not including meds (TOP WHACK charged), Lab Tests, or supplies. This was a MONEY FACTORY for the company.

People talk a lot about Healthcare, but if you look at it closely, most hospitals in the Medicaid arena are money machines for investors. AND THEY DON'T WANT ANY CHANGES, because Universal Care WOULD ACTUALLY CUT INTO THEIR PROFIT.

You don't think that FRANCE, JAPAN et al are doing Universal Care out of the goodness of their HEARTS, do you? THEY ARE DOING IT BECAUSE IT COSTS THE GOVERNEMENT LESS TO DO IT THAN TO LET THE GREEDY BASTARDS THAT OWN THE SYSTEM DO IT.

I take a deep breath, and go home now.