Health care organizations are more concerned about profits than about providing care for the sick.
Last year the federal government, under the second stimulus program, provided states additional funds to spend. Washington state used a lot of the stimulus funds it received to provide health care for its uninsured.
Why do you think the issue of the uninsured not paying disappeared last year as a topic of discussion? This state’s health care facilities enjoyed record payments from the state to pay for health care for the uninsured.
Health care organizations were counting on the government again to provide additional stimulus spending to maintain the revenue they had been receiving. Now that the government has not provided additional stimulus spending, health care facilities are claiming a lack of money forces them to lay off workers.
This is not true.
Health care facilities squandered the additional stimulus funds the state provided. Health care facilities have a financial problem. Once they receive additional revenue from the states or federal government, they come to expect it on a permanent basis.
Ask yourself, “Why don’t health care facilities have a rainy day fund established? Why did health care costs increase 9 percent last year when less people used it as they had no insurance and no job?”
Price controls are needed.
