Hospitals "aren't to blame for a nearly $30 billion unfunded mandate" -- the federal law that requires them to treat emergency department patients regardless of their ability to pay -- but "it's also true that hospitals run their business in ways that make sense only if a third-party payer is picking up the tab," with facility officials "prone to believe it's government's job to bail them out," Wall Street Journal columnist Holman Jenkins writes in an opinion piece. Hospitals do not publish price lists or advertise promotions and discounts to increase business, and they "are just discovering such ploys as getting the customer's credit card data before he lies down on the gurney," Jenkins writes, adding that an "even greater challenge ... will be adapting to a world in which patients (at least those who pay their bills) start to look with a shopper's eye on the price and value of hospital services." According to Jenkins, the increased number of patients responsible for a large share of their health care costs through consumer-driven health plans "is destined to transform" the hospital industry, with facilities likely to "shut in some places and sprout in others, change the mix of services they offer and ... compete on price and service the way other businesses do." In addition, the hospital industry "will have its unpleasant and controversial moments as consumers are obliged to shed the illusion that paying for hospital care is somebody else's (or nobody's) responsibility," Jenkins writes (Jenkins, Wall Street Journal, 8/2).
"Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
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