Should your basic healthcare be non-profit? And is that even a major consideration? I mean, after all, isn’t “profit” a good
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motivation for a healthcare plan? This issue came to the forefront of a PBS documentary about healthcare around the world – and apparently got the person who made the documentary cut out of his own film. Head on over to Something Is Rotten At PBS and check out the story. So why would someone take so strong a stand on this issue – knowing that he would not only get cut out of his own film, but also probably lose all future work with Frontline? What’s so important about non-profit versus for-profit? Many of us are old enough to remember when most healthcare plans (including Kaiser) were not-for-profit. In fact, the government made these organizations pay huge penalties for the right to convert to “for-profit.” Just to demonstrate the size of the penalty that insurance companies were willing to pay, this one-time fine is how many foundations were born (they were endowed by the penalty). When you can wrap your mind around the amount of cash a plan is willing to fork over to become “for-profit” – and then still be viable, that gives you some idea of how much healthcare money is taken out and pocketed each year by for-profit plans. Almost all of those mega-profits taken out of a healthplan are going to a small number of executives. Something to ponder in the swirling healthcare reform discussions…
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Doc Gurley is a Board-certified Internist physician and the only Harvard Medical School graduate to have been awarded a Shoney’s Ten-Step Pin for documented excellence in waitressing. 
I have been thinking about this lately as well. It might actually cause a lot of the reform that different parties want, but in a relatively easy way. Also, what if the pharmaceutical companies were non-profit? Is making profit off of charging people exorbitant amounts for drugs they absolutely need for their health much different from making a profit off of limiting treatment for patients to as little as possible?
I take one of those advertised on TV mega expensive medications. A month’s treatment costs $2500.
Last month I got notice that the drug company wanted me to be able to continue to afford my treatment in these hard times. They are willing to take whatever my insurance will pay and charge me only a $5 copy per month….I am thrilled as it actually does make it possible for me to continue my med. BUT, you know that the drug company is still making a profit on this. So how much is this medication actually cost to make and ship???? Pennies?
Meanwhile, my insurance coverage goes down, copays and coinsurance goes up and price to buy insurance goes through the roof. But I have to pay it because no other insurance company wants someone with a condition!