HATRED OF SPECIALTY HOSPITALS

Want to hear some good NPR hatred of private service provision? Listen to this audio link. If the link does not work directly, you can get to it via here.

Since the Reagan administration abolished government controls over what hospitals can be built, lots of specialty surgical hospitals are springing up that give far better service than the public hospitals -- Urology Centers, Orthopedic Hospitals, Rehab Hospitals etc. So guess what anybody who has enough insurance prefers?

But the public hospitals are squealing about the "unfair" competition. Any idea of upgrading the public hospital service is not heard, of course. And with the government money they get should they not be able to give the private centers a run for their money? The private centers get no government money. We of course know why the public hospitals are totally out of any such race: Their huge and stifling bureaucracies.

So what is the beef that the public hospital chiefs have? Their claim is that the private clinics are stealing "their" patients! They say that it is the public hospitals that should be getting the money from the patients served by specialty centers. Since the USA is not a Communist state yet, however, this concept of "owning" someone will hopefully get the short shrift it deserves.

But what a typical example of Leftist authoritarianism the whole concept is: If you cannot compete with a better-organized competitor, get the government to shut your competitor down! That is what the public hospitals are asking for.

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL hospitals and health insurance schemes should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the very poor and minimal regulation.

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