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Mayo Clinic, one of the country's top hospitals, is in the midst of controversy after its CEO said that the elite medical facility would prioritize the care of patients with private health insurance over those with Medicare and Medicaid.
The prioritization by the Rochester, MN-headquartered medical practice was recently revealed by the Minneapolis Star Tribune. And it has quickly drawn out some sharp critics—as well as sympathizers.
In a statement to the Minnesota Post Bulletin, Dr. Gerard Anderson, the director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Hospital Finance and Management, compared the prioritization to policies seen in developing countries. "This is what happens in many low-income countries. The health system is organized to give the most affluent preference in receiving health care," he wrote.
Likewise, Minnesota Department of Human Services Commissioner Emily Piper, expressed surprise and concern by the statements of Mayo's CEO, Dr. John Noseworthy. "Fundamentally, it's our expectation at DHS that Mayo Clinic will serve our enrollees in public programs on an equal standing with any other Minnesotan that walks in their door," she said. "We have a lot of questions for Mayo Clinic about how and if and through what process this directive from Dr. Noseworthy is being implemented across their health system."
Specifically, Noseworthy said in a video to Mayo employees late last year:
We're asking... if the patient has commercial insurance, or they're Medicaid or Medicare patients and they're equal, that we prioritize the commercial insured patients enough so... we can be financially strong at the end of the year.
In statements, Mayo has confirmed Noseworthy's prioritization and added that about 50 percent of its patients are beneficiaries of government programs. "Balancing payer mix is complex and isn't unique to Mayo Clinic. It affects much of the industry, but it's often not talked about. That's why we feel it is important to talk transparently about these complex issues with our staff."
Source: Ars Technica
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 22 2017, @12:22AM (1 child)
Property taxes have been one of the greatest causes of inequality in this country.
Its why the schools of the poor suck, making it 2x as hard for the poor to climb out of poverty.
And now you are arguing that the poor should get shitty healthcare too.
Fuck that shit you creep.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday March 22 2017, @04:09PM
Its why the schools of the poor suck, making it 2x as hard for the poor to climb out of poverty.
I thought it was pretty well statistically proven that only significant determinant in education outcome was demographics. Money doesn't matter. I wonder if health care is the same way. Or would be the same way if funded by prop tax.
It seems pretty normal to have a "top district in the country" in a burb near a "bottom district in the country" in a city where the city spends more money than the burb. Where I live the local inner city spends $14K per pupil and scarcely half bother to graduate and the test scores are dismal some of the worst in the nation, 20 miles away in the burbs we only spend $12K per pupil in a district about the same size, and come in near the top in many national rankings for standardized tests and academic competitions and stuff like that. There's a slight demographic difference between the inner city and where I live but human biological differences don't exist so the results must just be solely due to luck.