First of all, spectacular writing and analysis. I ate it up ! Just wow !!
A few things I kept thinking about while reading:
Why did Massachusetts stop regulating hospital prices? What was the thinking there, and how did that open the door for HMOs?
Also, that timeline is wild. They merged and got the bargaining power to protect themselves against insurers pretty quickly, but patients didn’t get a shared medical record until 2015–2016? I get that integrating hospitals is complicated, but that feels like the basic expectation when you’re part of the same system. if I move between two hospitals in the same system, my info should follow me.
The business benefits came first, and patients waited decades for something that basic!!!!!!
And on your last question, I get the fairness concern, but we do this elsewhere too. California taxpayers help fund other states while California still needs money for schools, housing, roads, and infrastructure. So paying for something that benefits people elsewhere isn’t unusual in this country.
The bigger question for me is: should research that makes everyone’s lives better be funded through a higher hospital bill or insurance premium for a patient who isalready struggling? Or should that money come from somewhere else?!!!
First of all, spectacular writing and analysis. I ate it up ! Just wow !!
A few things I kept thinking about while reading:
Why did Massachusetts stop regulating hospital prices? What was the thinking there, and how did that open the door for HMOs?
Also, that timeline is wild. They merged and got the bargaining power to protect themselves against insurers pretty quickly, but patients didn’t get a shared medical record until 2015–2016? I get that integrating hospitals is complicated, but that feels like the basic expectation when you’re part of the same system. if I move between two hospitals in the same system, my info should follow me.
The business benefits came first, and patients waited decades for something that basic!!!!!!
And on your last question, I get the fairness concern, but we do this elsewhere too. California taxpayers help fund other states while California still needs money for schools, housing, roads, and infrastructure. So paying for something that benefits people elsewhere isn’t unusual in this country.
The bigger question for me is: should research that makes everyone’s lives better be funded through a higher hospital bill or insurance premium for a patient who isalready struggling? Or should that money come from somewhere else?!!!
Wow wow wow - amazing, Andrew!
This is fantastic reporting! Thank you!