Hospitals nowadays are big business. They're run like businesses in that they attempt to make profits, pay stakeholders, have CEOs and CFOs, and even advertise (often times with catchy slogans and mass media campaigns). It's fascinating to me how new cancer treatment, heart clinics, and dialysis centers seem to crop up on a daily basis in even the smallest of communities. It's a shame that this is the way it is, but I'd like to think that there's a better path to wellness then profiting off others illnesses.
At some point, we, as a nation, will realize that action must be taken to increase the amount of public hospitals to people who need them most. If it requires higher taxation, so be it. The U.S., for a developed country, already offers one of the lowest income tax rates in the world and if we all had to pay more to get higher quality care and access to care, then I would be all for it. Hopefully, we collectively reach a conclusion (quickly) in order to fix the current issues that will burgeon as our society continues to age, and disparities between the "haves" (those with healthcare) and the "have-nots" continues to grow.
For things to have become the way they are now, there must have been serious shifts in our health care system's history to cause such a problem. When we consider the position that public hospitals are in: ever-increasing patient population, aging patient population, limited funds relative to number treated and difficulty recruiting physicians, it is no wonder that there is a significant problem not only for the patients, but also for the employees of the health care system. Hospitals nowadays are big business due to historical shifts in the government involvement in providing health care. Since what has transpired cannot be addressed, we must evaluate what can be done. With an optimistic president who continues to value health care reform as one of his major term goals, we are in a position to be just as optimistic. Raising taxes, though a simple claim, directly conflicts with yet another of our president's lofty goals. The road is difficult and the decisions will not be easy, but in time America must find a way to address a population that is not getting any younger and patience is running thin. For a fundamental policy change in any level of society, there must be a fundamental mentality change as well. There remains much to be seen in terms of change in our future.
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