Private Equity's Latest Target: Your Emergency Room

Private equity is swallowing up America's emergency rooms. 1 in 4 ERs are now staffed by private equity-based firms. The waits are longer, the bills are higher, and ER doctors are being replaced by lower-paid contractors.
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[@ltamarawilson8356]

Sad part is people see the huge bill and think the DOCTOR is making too much, when in actuality the private equity billionaire on their yacht is real the reason why your $8,000 bill was sent to collections.

[@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823]

I lived in a rich area 43 years. Many/most of whom were doctors/lawyers. (Old family house, where we were almost the last "poor" people). SFH would go for AT LEAST 1.3 mil. In dumpy shape. Up to 4 mil.or so.

[@Confettifun]

Meanwhile your provider doc, pa, nps are in 100k+ of debt but many of these jobs are paying less than 80-90k a year(at least for apps). Everyone is fleeing EM

[@cariwaldick4898]

This corporate model is a pyramid scheme. That private equity billionaire has to keep his shareholders happy. That demands constant profit--even increasing profits. The only way that happens is if those on the bottom get paid less, and the "customers" pay more. I'll gladly support any legislation that changes this model. Shareholders should not expect to get paid first. They should not expect to have a predictable return on investments. Remove the impetus to keep making profits, to lure investors, and you can focus on the health of the company. You can take the profitability out of the equation.

[@JoseLopez-tk4tq]

No wonder so many physicians are retiring earlier because they are fed up dealing with this sh*t! Which might translate into a increase in patient load on those who doctors still actively practicing. Thanks Wall Street!

[@Autonomous15]

@@JoseLopez-tk4tq how can you retire early unless you're making bank as well? those doctors getting paid $400k salaries are the problem too.

[@RB-yj9ng]

Greed is strangling every industry with no end in sight.

[@jcdesantis69]

They have brought and threatened our polititions into submission. There is no hope. They control everything.

[@debragillen255]

Correct. And it’s all rolling down hill . Families pay the ultimate price . Do more more more . Work harder harder harder. It’s sad . No wonder everyone is in a bad mood 😮

[@stevekaylor5606]

Roll the corporate greed back uphill - by freezing their gambled-up claims via Marcy Kaptur's H.R.2714, reintroducing the 1933-99 Glass-Steagall Act. Generate credit for the real economy, health care, etc.!@@debragillen255

[@robertd9850]

No it's not. The industries are doing fine, it's the customers who aren't. I just bought a new Samsung A54 5g for $340 that is way better than the Samsung S10e that I paid more than double that for 4 years ago so how could that happen?

[@stevekaylor5606]

Industry is being shut down - in the U.S., Germany, etc. For speculation - $5 trillion changes hands every day!@@robertd9850

[@karolinawiatrowska3890]

Corporate greed needs to be checked. They are coming for homeownership, healthcare, our very basic existence

[@cariwaldick4898]

...education, family planning, food and water, news and information, power, transportation.... It's everything. Every aspect of life and living, gives corporate vampires an opportunity to profit.

[@RealHomeRecording]

End stage capitalism.

[@AnthonyTolhurst-dw1nc]

They’re coming for YOU.

[@manuelmoraleda9684]

The U.S. healthcare system is the only one with shareholders ! Those shareholders of course are saying - You better earn a profit for us or else...

[@PhilAndersonOutside]

@@RealHomeRecording Yes. This. It's gone from competitive, to parasitic, to cannibalistic, even auto-cannibalistic.

[@froggy0162]

As a non American, it blows my mind that anyone would privatise a health system. This is an essential service, should be free to all and run efficiently not for profit.

[@suemilkbone4868]

Shocking, isn't it? Yet, the US government has been letting our health care be sold to the highest (lowest?) bidder for many decades now.

[@AMG-BENZ-1]

Americans always fighting for lower taxes so what do they expect?

[@chihirostargazer6573]

Not sure where you are from, but be wary... they will try to do the same thing there. They are already trying to privatise healthcare in the UK.

[@Yobama007]

Welcome to Scamerica where our government rapes us every single day.

[@randymarsh8974]

@@AMG-BENZ-1Yea but they only get it lowered for the rich capital owners. Then believe in the "trickle down" concept. All to hurt the other side. When reagent started the racist failed war on drugs. And gave the white nationalists a way to discriminate, and profit off the "other side". And believe whatever stupid propaganda, just because it doesnt effect them. And makes them feel like superior "patriots". Unable to see they are just redcoats...

[@justsomeguy6730]

Don't forget that these groups are replacing Physicians with cheaper nurse practitioners and physician assistants while charging patients the same amount. Sure it had disastrous results, but at least the CEO can buy a second yacht!

[@stevekaylor5606]

The legislators must Institute better Standards!

[@waffles3629]

Yep. About 2 years into treatment for my chronic migraine a PA at my neurologists office suggested I try ibuprofen. I'd just asked for a refill of a prescription NSAID that requires you to fail like 6 different drugs, including 2 OTC NSAIDs (ibuprofen and naproxen), if you want insurance to pay for it. But yeah, totally didn't try it. And I definitely didn't think to try it in the 3 MONTHS I waited for my "emergency priority appointment". Needless to say I told the office to never schedule me with her again and made a complaint. I don't think she read my file past my name. Actually I don't even think she read that far, because they have a field for preferred name and she used my full name instead of my nickname. Everything she brought up had already been tried, including several procedures that had been done in office. I only stuck it out because I needed my meds renewed and for some unknown reason my insurance required an in office visit for one of them. And I couldn't afford to wait months. She no longer works there thankfully. PAs and NPs have their place, replacing doctors is not one of them.

[@justsomeguy6730]

@@stevekaylor5606 I'm sure they are getting rich off of looking the other way and their family will only see physicians. Meanwhile, hardworking Americans with horrible healthcare don't even get the healthcare they pay through the nose for.

[@stevekaylor5606]

I can remember when the Gov. of PA was able to cancel the healthcare of 300k working poor - about 1991!@@justsomeguy6730

[@KatsCorner]

All about the one percent.

[@FaithlessLooter]

Corporate greed has ruined the concept of even existing honestly.

[@daggar2k]

Private Equity just needs to be made illegal. It would solve so many problems…

[@xisotopex]

indeed.

[@stevekaylor5606]

This was from 1933 on - under the Glass-Steagall Act. Its provisions were gradually eroded until it was repealed in 1999, and private equity began to run amuck. Their solvency keeps getting bolstered with the Fed's bailouts!@@xisotopex

[@jamesdagmond]

Maybe not illegal, but it needs to be kept out of healthcare and real estate that's for sure.

[@stevekaylor5606]

Make parasitic speculations illegal again - by restoring the Glass-Steagall Bank Protection Act of 1933-99. Marcy Kaptur has HR2714 for this!@@jamesdagmond

[@pagaporvista569]

@@jamesdagmond and schools/universities!

[@BearKat9]

My dad was a doctor, he worked in emergency. He wanted more than anything that I would become a doctor. After he saw the direction of the medical field in general, he was happy i didn’t become a doctor.

[@Jebbis]

Everything PE touches immediately starts failing.

[@AvatarSimulator]

Problem is it doesn't fail for PE, just everyone else

[@scpatl4now]

...or goes bankrupt after they extract all the value

[@guymartz8262]

Think of all those union pension funds that hold a large percentage of private equity holdings, let's not hope the PE funds fail at once.

[@aboucard93]

@@guymartz8262look up NAV loans.

[@CarlGerhardt1]

Because that's the plan.

[@AllenPortman]

Treated only as a number! I was a ER Nurse for over 10 years and I saw the negative impact working for a corporation (HCA) that only cares about the all mighty $$$, not the patient!

[@kerrypoppins5388]

Thank you to all healthcare workers who are brave enough to speak out about these issues. God bless you all!

[@crazychase98]

So hospitals are mafias is what your saying

[@seanbailey1156]

The most unemergent place I have ever been is my local ER. 8 hours to be told they need to refer me out. Then the specialist is 10 to 12 months out. What a joke.

[@matthewwaterson9547]

Pretty much a universal statement that everyone can agree upon is Fuck private equity companies

[@glasslinger]

Twenty two hours in the hospital with the total diagnosis of two minor cuts on the forehead. Bill: $113,000!

[@amylee9]

Where? Please expose them

[@BCSTS]

This is criminal !

[@sweetsunshineplaytime]

Noooo freaking way

[@sweetsunshineplaytime]

That’s highway robbery

[@TheSapphire51]

Its is of course robbery and will dissuade people with head injuries from going near them. It has clearly gotten out of hand pretty much everywhere except maybe for the Scandanavian countries. It is definitely worse in Britain and is geting worse in France and it is all because of corporate greed.

[@catpax6075]

Tired of being literally robbed by rich companies for trying to get my basic healthcare needs.

[@luciannebeans6679]

Much as I hate Canadian winters, I am constantly reminded why I moved here. I feel so bad for Americans.

[@zabmcauley5647]

Our healthcare isn't doing much better. I've been waiting for years for multiple referrals. People have died waiting for healthcare in the ER.

[@steverusso177]

If Trump wins Canada better be ready for a huge influx. Already picked my spot. I once loved hockey so have the anthem down already.

[@stevekaylor5606]

Since 2019, Canada has a new Health Care procedure - the Tiergarten 4 modeled MAID Act!

[@scoutdixie4412]

​@@stevekaylor5606you haven't seen anything yet. Eugenics 2.0. Just wait.

[@jenniferjemison636]

Canada is changing too. I hear it's difficult to get a primary care doctor and your wait time for surgery can be quiet long. No where is perfect so you must be grateful your health care won't make you bankrupt.

[@phaedrussmith1949]

Some years ago I saw a video about some physicians who had set up a practice where they didn't take insurance. It was a kind of subscription that people paid which seemed very affordable and there was a list of the usual things that people seek out medical care for that was covered. It worked economically because they didn't have to hire a large staff whose job was to do nothing but deal with insurance. I always wondered how it is working out.

[@pauladuncanadams1750]

I think what you are talking about is called "concierge".

[@nipatel1760]

Concierge bills your insurance and takes a monthly access fee so the patient gets better service. Direct primary care or DPC doesn't bill insurance and takes a monthly fee.

[@pauladuncanadams1750]

@@nipatel1760 interesting. Good to know.

[@deeprollingriver52]

Private equity is why, as an ER nurse for 45 years, I quit nursing forever.

[@diavolorosa]

Congrats. Retirement or career change?

[@WalterHildahl]

Hospitals and ER are not supposed to be a profit making investment.

[@bok..]

Alot of people here in Canada complain about our healthcare. Whenever i hear that i point to stuff like this, how wanting that is a horrible idea.

[@zabmcauley5647]

Healthcare in Canada needs to be properly funded. It is pretty terrible right now. We can complain about it and not want this private healthcare BS. Properly fund PUBLIC healthcare. Stop fighting healthcare unions over better working conditions and cost of living pay wage increases.

[@mentak2593]

Yep, as an NP I was switched to seeing double the patients in a day with no support staff. I was responsible for testing, blood draws, insurance and charting in addition to assessing and treating the patient. It is insanity. Oh also inventory, receiving supplies and checking equipment.

[@LawnPygmy]

Opposing the commodification of healthcare is self defense.

[@AKguru762]

I live in Asheville, my wife had our children their. I was not expecting this to hit so close to home.

[@peacelovehopecharity]

Some things should not have a profit motive. Hospitals, schools, and prisons are 3 of them.

[@Food4CriticalThought]

Corp greed is sending us to the ER. Our primary physician fail at their oath too.

[@mxr572]

not so much in Canada (Ontario). insurance run by Provincial government with assist from the Feds. a great service overall for seniors like me. also meds assisted after $100. wake up USA.

[@scpatl4now]

I can tell you firsthand what a difference it makes to have the ER you go to be owned by a non profit community based operation. First, before I even went to the ER I was able to look online and see what the wait time was...18mins. I was taken back close to that time (18mins). I had gone to an urgent care and they thought I might have kidney stones and told me to try and pass them or get a CT scan if they didn't in a couple of days. They gave me something for the pain. A couple of days later, the pain was worse and I was starting to run a fever. I went to the ER (it was Sunday evening). The doctors were great and they ordered the ct scan and later an MRI and discovered I had an infection in my lower lumbar region of my spine (bone infection) and I was becoming septic. If I had waited even 6 hours to see someone, and if then the doctor was constrained as to what tests they could run, I'd be dead...full stop. As it was, I was in the hospital for five days and am now completing 8weeks of home IV antibiotics (April 7th cant get here fast enough). I am finally starting to feel better thanks to the care I received. Like I said ... private equity owned = Death...at least for me it would have. A couple of hours at the ER can be the difference between going home and recovering, and dying...Oh, and that Urgent Care that told me it was kidney stones and never even checked urine...was owned by private equity.

[@iheartlreoy8134]

I work for a medical device manufacturer and the profit motive by a gargantuan corporation thinks outsourcing everything to Mexico and India to cut on labor costs will not harm patient safety despite several recalls on our devices already in place due to poor manufacturing processes with our vendors and overseas workers.

[@MOstix13]

This needs to stop. Disgusted by corporate greed.

[@quantumslime7265]

Huh. Almost like we should focus on helping people fulfill their basic needs. Rather than chasing something meaningless like money.

[@anishnaabehistorypodcast7215]

In Canada, ER's are facing the same problem. But our health system is public. So.....what's the actual problem?

[@sarahbrown2789]

Thank for saying this. I'm an American (and a medical billing rep) and am seeing a lot of people here wanting to jump on the socialized medicine train. In our current environment it's the corporations making our healthcare decisions, but in socialized medicine the government is making your healthcare decision. We all need to have a serious discussion on how to, instead, give the healthcare decisions back to the doctors and their patients.

[@AnonymousMusing]

Corporations call patients customers as if the people in pain had a choice. When is this country going to pass legislation that protects the citizens from the greed these predators soak themselves in?

[@mg79277]

Too bad bernie Saunders isn’t president

[@boombot934]

Stop corporate greed 🤗

[@hollowdude7570]

When your born around money you want more money. When your born without money you fight back.

[@SgtJoeSmith]

yep. you fight off anyone trying to give you money

[@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823]

"You're." Nobody needs money to read more. Public library.

[@SgtJoeSmith]

@@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823 hahaha

[@custos3249]

"She's a life long republican." Hilarious.

[@duancoviero9759]

😆😆 yes!!! And she wants to unionize!!! As I live and Breathe😆

[@sarahtenbensel2231]

Maybe she isn't anymore!!!! She is certainly not a MAGA republican!

[@Wisepati]

@@duancoviero9759 I guess it just shows when it gets bad enough and their nose gets rubbed in it, and it actually affects them they may begin to see the light.

[@AMG-BENZ-1]

😂😂

[@Standard_Issue_Pedestrian]

No one is perfect, lol. Maybe she'll come around!

[@goldy4631]

I work in EMS, finishing my undergrad in a year and applying for Medical School in a couple months. We have a hospital system where I run EMS and this exact thing happened. They bought out all the Hospitals in the 75 mile radius. All the urgent cares and they built a medical school. Longer wait times, massive bills and patient suffering. I initially wanted to do emergency medicine and I found myself gasping for air trying to find the passion I had prior. Seeing patients deteriorating that I had brought into the ED 2hrs prior.

[@81redddd]

Most 1st world countries have free healthcare 🙄 A lot European countries don’t look at America like a first world country.

[@verfed]

Those countries have rationing, waiting times and death lists.

[@81redddd]

@@verfed which countries?

[@Castalia313]

Unfortunately, private equity is trying similar tactics in some of those European countries too. Their politicians aren’t immune to greed, it’s just been a bit harder to chip away at because the citizens don’t want to lose their healthcare but there are ways those healthcare systems have been eroded. If you sell it as a “bad” product and only privatization can save it some people will believe it.

[@irmakalember9403]

It’s not free. I used to live in Europe as a kid was born I. Eastern Europe. You pay for it through taxes. Nothing is free

[@stevekaylor5606]

@@81redddd I doubt if this includes China now; they have built-up a Middle Class of over 800 million!

[@hellboy19991]

I am so happy I live in a first world country and not the united states. The longest I ever had to wait for a doctor was 4 hours and only because of post-surgery complications at 3am and the doctor that initially checked me told me to wait for the appropriate specialist to come in in the morning. Not to mention that I have never spent a penny on any doctors visit. I do pay into the national insurance, but that's still cheaper than anything me or my boss would pay into private insurance in the states without even thinking about going to a doc and paying extra out of pocket. The US doesn't have healthcare, it's health business and the next step up in the dystopian capitalism would be slavery... Oh wait, America has for-profit prisons and laws that make you go in the hole for 20 years if a cop slips you some weed.

[@rjung_ch]

Gut gesagt.

[@hisham63polaris17]

Fabian you lucky

[@thevomitcomit]

It's madness

[@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823]

14 hours, you could have gone home and gone to an Immediate Care clinic in the am.

[@yvonnemitchell4754]

Between corporate greed and large insurance companies denying coverage for needed medical care, I now carry a notice right with my state ID. I HEREBY REFUSE ANY AND ALL MEDICAL INTERVENTION UNLESS I AM ACTIVELY DIEING!!! I HAVE A LEGAL DNR!!! Thanks big business for making it no longer worth while to bother even trying to stay alive in America!!! I live in St.Clair Co. just sixty miles north of Detroit. Both hospitals in the area are for profit hospitals. I’m already on disability and was severely injured on the job. (I use to be a first responder and they took my insurance and retirement due to budget cuts, leaving me with SSDI alone.) I LITERALLY CANNOT AFFORD TO SAVE MY OWN LIFE ANYMORE IN AMERICA!!!

[@kentrzacherl]

"We had the blessing of strong non-physician business people" JAIL. STRAIGHT TO JAIL.

[@kilo_kilo]

until these executives and investors face real consequences, they'll continue squeezing every dollar out of the system, regardless that it will eventually collapse.

[@HomeEcSewing]

In reference to your request at the end of the video: Teaching. The emergence of magnet and charter schools created competition, as students bring in the funding. In order to maintain funding, admin pulls out all the stops to keep students attending. This means grade inflation and lack of discipline, to just name two issues that are wrecking havoc on our society. The results of this lack of education are only beginning to be realized in the adult world, and brace yourselves, because it's about to get really bad.

[@user1952-e4g]

"You will own nothing and be happy" (WTO slogan)- not even your life in an emergency.

[@kalintibbitts8351]

I don’t think that the problem is that hospitals are privately owned per se, but rather that short term profits are being pursued at the expense of all else. That sort of thinking isn’t unique to healthcare and problems of that nature can be seen no matter what the industry is

[@adriansandlin556]

The fact that hospitals are funded with taxpayer money, yet are able to be bought out and privitized by corporations to generate profits at the expense of said taxpayers is outrageous to an unfathomable degree.

[@watamatafoyu]

I'd love Fox News to explain how this has better outcomes than Canada's medical system if you're not rich.

[@Jebbis]

But death panels and rationing healthcare! /s

[@nibsniven3497]

Even if you're rich, a prolonged illness can bankrupt you now.

[@valeriaswanne]

And acknowledge that struggling people exist?? Never!

[@Frannieville]

My hospital job ended pretty much the same way. Private firms have bought out a lot of hospital departments.

[@theprecipiceofreason]

I work in medical insurance (yes, yes, I know - I'm a monster) and these companies only formed, initially, to avoid contracting with insurance. The hospital would have to take the amount that we agreed on, through contracting, for our members. A reduced amount from what they billed, of course, because that's the beast of American healthcare. The emergency room would be the only (and most expensive, outside of longterm care, which is still less expensive) noncontracting entity that didn't take insurance in the entire hospital. Now, we have the No Surprise Billing law that came out which allows them to negotiate with insurance companies. Now, they are empowered to be the driving factor that raises your insurance rates, moreso than any other. A great evil of our times, to be sure, and not something many people know about. You might not get a bill on your side, directly from the ER ..But, they will force the insurance companies to pay more, then they have to make you pay more. It kicked the can to increase yoru subscription cost, in other words. I may be a cog in the evil machine but, please, know about the machine you want to destroy. It doesn't have to be like this.

[@tamiegrgn11]

OMG YOU ARE SO SO SO RIGHT!!! My husband retired , still not much money, but he went on Medicare, and got a supplemental plan also. In December/2023 my husband couldn't eat hardly, vomiting at times just really sick, he also has been diagnosed with skin cancer... We went to 3 different doctors, now on 4th, blood work, scans, x rays repeated with each doctor, we think my husband would get the surgery each different doctor. NO. NO. NO. NO. FOR EACH DOCTOR! Oh we don't cover that, oh wrong hospital, wrong surgeon ect... We've been to 3 different hospitals in Denver. Emergency room too. He's dying, can't eat and not sure if cancer spread or his heart is being so stressed from hyladial hernia among !other problems. I pray, but I know that were in trouble America, and we need to stand up and fight against these Cabal Evil Corporations!!! Tamie/Colorado 😢

[@leahbel25]

UGH I hated TeahHealth. I left that physician group in 2021. So glad I did.

[@Hatbox948]

I went to an ER recently due to an emergency. I was there 4-5 hours, and had to have a CT scan. The doctor never examined me, but just told me the results of the test. He was your typical unsympathetic doctor, very sarcastic and rude. Later I got a bill for $27,000.00. I'm not kidding.

[@georgH]

And yet, so many people are against universal healthcare because "I don't want to pay for somebody else's care"

[@silvertone1]

As if not everybody gets ill..and sicker and sicker as they age..and as they become more ill they can work less and less!! Its so funny I can't believe how dumb your right-wingers are. They just don't value their health or maybe even lives.

[@diligent_seeker]

Gov't controlled healthcare will not be any better. Private equity firms buying up everything is what needs to be outlawed.

[@Urm0mz]

Nevermind that we already are 😂 that's literally how taxes work!

[@acerimmer8338]

It 's so absurdly funny yet depressing their dissonance. What do you think an insurance premium is?!?!

[@georgH]

@@acerimmer8338 Not joking, somebody commented this on another YT video, at first I thought it was sarcasm, but no

[@ibelieveitcauseiseentit9630]

Yep I've had to take my elderly mom to the ER twice last year and both times we had to wait 45 min to see a nurse and it took another 5 to 6 hours both times before she saw a doctor.

[@dkas24]

I’ve been a respiratory therapist for 22 years and I can’t wait to get out. I can no longer do what I’ve been trained to do and I dont feel like I’m helping anyone anymore and 😔. Corporate has made medicine intolerable for caregivers and patients.

[@rockymountainlockpicker9606]

Private equity is ruining the nursing home industry. Nobody has had raises in 5 years from the nursing aides, therapists, doctors, etc. but the owners and investors have mansions and yatchs all over the country

[@chesterpophamproductions2879]

Another thing about the staffing firms is that they don't accept insurance. So when you go a hospital, which may take your insurance, the doctors from the staffing firm do not. I had this happen a few times. By not accepting insurance, they are not tied to charging less and can charge whatever they want is another issue with this. So you call your insurance and they say this hospital is in network. You go but none of the doctors in the hospital accept any insurance. It sucks!

[@albongo3949]

The big question is: “How do you hold essential structures and groups accountable?” Examples of such: Government Medical hospitals etc Universities (sports money, raising rates always) Insurance companies Internet service providers Etc etc etc

[@devinmcmanus]

I'm Canadian and our health care system is far from perfect but this is just disgraceful.

[@shaicohen2]

Here's the secret sauce for winning: investigate the medical care/billing of family members of the owners of these companies. compare/contrast that with a "normal" patient. there is all the argument you need.

[@neemz9361]

Currently work in vet med. our clinic is owned by an overseas investment fund. Prices on everything have gone up something like 4% per years since the acquisition

[@LoboPal]

Wait, but charging out of network for emergency care isn't allowed, which they SHOULD know

[@thebiggestpanda1]

All you have to do is make health insurance illegal and make for profit hospitals illegal.

[@bradhayes8294]

My wife and I waited for 23.5 hours in the ER for a neurology appointment.

[@ickster23]

In Canada, Our government has killed our ERs. I have free health care, but no access to health care. Some privileged Canadians who live one of our 6 major cities will have health care, but the rest of us are screwed.

[@pat9353]

“Look at how bad our healthcare system is, it should be privatized!” - Alberta premiere who just under funded healthcare

[@ickster23]

@@pat9353 I don't care what your axe is to grind or your political ideology. I'm just pointing out simple facts: 1. governments have said "we will run healthcare and provide healthcare to everyone"; 2. governments across all ideologies have failed to provide healthcare to everyone. I do not have health care; 3. governments have taken away choice from the citizens. It is illegal for me to pay for health care; and 4. They have taken a service and politically weaponized it, as you reply illustrates. The Covid policies also dramatically illustrate this political weaponization. Those are the facts of the situation. I don't want excuses, finger pointing, or other garbage. A particular group of people are failing in their mission and, as usual, do not suffer any consequences for failing. Failing, in this case is killing people.

[@pat9353]

@@ickster23 exactly, solutions are what’s needed not more blaming or politically weaponized lack of service. The only way to get healthcare is to pay for it, and governments seem either incapable or unwilling to do so. the result of this is measured in human lives.

[@isbe8810]

And this is why I am flying overseas for treatment after seeing more than 7 different specialists in New York City and four ER visits for what they deem an “autoimmune reaction” that they keep profiting from and sending me home after expensive and repeated testing, two surgeries in 2 and half months and a bunch of studies. It is all about money and keeping people sick and coming back for more. I really hope this overseas medical visit improves or cures my ailment , because it might be my sign to finally move out of the States or at least spend more time overseas.

[@leegrass6954]

Corporate greed is now prevalent in the veterinary medicine profession. In our small town in Central Arizona although one of the veterinary clinics have been taken over by the very same corporation. It seems we cannot get good veterinary care but still pay exorbitant prices.

[@theuscivicsnerd7070]

The entire health system needs to become nationalized. Pharma, hospitals, insurance. The entire thing.

[@shannoncook-io1ix]

When the well trained doctors and nurses leave less qualified ones take there place and they are understaffed. I was in a two person room and she was in major distress. The nurse came in and scolded her, when it was clear she couldn't stop, they moved her. She died that night. They didn't even try to comfort her. The attitude was nothing less than cruel. They said oh she does this all the time. Ignore her.

[@shakdizzle]

Horrible to hear corporate greed over people lives

[@DeepWebDiary]

No medical professional greed is killing the ER.

[@ThanosGod1969]

Under the Reagan Administration (1981-1989), regulations loosened across the board, and privatization of healthcare became increasingly common.

[@lazybrute]

I'm a design engineer, custom machines and tooling mostly, and have worked in multiple industries over the past 3 decades. Anytime a management degree holder, accountant or investment firm runs a company or corporation instead of people who actually can function as a part of the company (engineer, doctor, mechanic, etc) then it is a disaster. Instead of providing the best product or service at a competitive price and having a business model that allows for growth of individual employees from the bottom up it becomes a source for maximum amount of profit.

[@bch5513]

Used to work at a hospital(s). The corporate is only PART of the issue. The bureaucracy and hyperregualations are also part of it. They could shave off EASILY 30% of the staff that is upper management (super high paid) and all the insurance and accounting and MASS of lawyers and other administration if things weren't so "intentionally complex". Many of the big wigs only want to come in and leave their mark with some "new and innovative" change so they can tout it on their resume and then move on 3-5 years later after spending millions in the implementation of a system or initiative from something they fixed that wasn't broken and now is infinitely more expensive to maintain and complicated and wasn't needed to begin with. I have lived it more than once! Especially in the "smaller-mid" sized hospitals.

[@KatieDeGo]

Lab tech here: I work at a womens hospital. Because of upcoming changes, there will be only one lab tech working 9 night shifts on, 5 days off, and running the entire lab at once. Thats for an ER, blood bank, NICU, and womens birthing center. Its insane.

[@KB_B]

I have experience with this and had to navigate my life through corporate greed. Lost a lot of money, but my soul feels good and a grew a lot.

[@irmakalember9403]

I used to be a CNA in a long term care facility. Our Nurses told us we have to treat our patients as costumer. I tested them as patients na elderly couple.

[@NS-yt1vy]

Not that there is anything wrong with PA's or NP's... but they simply aren't Doctors. When you are at your worst, you want to see the highest trained and most qualified individuals to care for you. Those people are doctors. These corporations are removing physicians in exchange for NP's and PA's in order to save money. Things need to change so we all can have the very best care.

[@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823]

A lot of it you CAN do w an experienced PA. Just don't charge for an MD.

[@NS-yt1vy]

@@lilylife4426 When you want the best possible care, you want a doctor. Not to be rude, but the truth is... PA's and NP's are working at the very highest of their education to treat patients under a doctors supervision. As physicians, they are working at their lowest of their education. If we are talking non-complex simple cases, sure let the NP and PA handle it. Again, no disrespect to NP's or PA's... but the education difference is DRASTIC. You won't care about saving 15% when you are mistreated.

[@NS-yt1vy]

@@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823 And a lot you CAN NOT do with a PA. To put it kindly... mid-level care providers just don't know what they don't know simply because their education did not take them there. As a PA or NP, be proud of being the very best mid-level provider, but if you want to act and treat like a physician, then go to medical school and become a doctor. When you want the best possible care, you want a doctor. Not to be rude, but the truth is... PA's and NP's are working at the very highest of their education to treat patients under a doctors supervision. As physicians, they are working at their lowest of their education. If we are talking non-complex simple cases, sure let the NP and PA handle it. Again, no disrespect to NP's or PA's... but the education difference is DRASTIC. You won't care about saving 15% when you are mistreated.

[@NS-yt1vy]

@@lilylife4426 I know a lot about mid level providers. Mistreat as in not provide the correct treatment plans due to missed diagnosis etc... And its not your fault as a mid level provider... it is just simply past the education level you received sometimes. You are correct, quality of care depends on experience and education. To put it blunt, NPs and PAs have a middle level tier of experience and less than half of the education. Be proud of being a NP and PA, but don't inflate yourself to a level of a physician. If you want the doctor title, then go after it and follow the educational and knowledgeable path that only doctors endured. If not, be happy with your scope of practice as a mid level provider and come to terms with it.

[@NS-yt1vy]

@@lilylife4426 That is very good for you and typical for a Stanford grad to name drop. They are called mid level providers so I don't understand what is funny about that. "Mid-level practitioners, also called non-physician practitioners, advanced practice providers, or commonly mid-levels are health care providers who assess, diagnose, and treat patients but do not have formal education or certification as a physician." Again, I in no way put them down and I repeated that notion several times. However I did say be proud of being a NP or PA, thus being a mid-level provider. Just because MD's or pharmacist ask for your input, doesn't mean you are a MD. It means you are a mid-level provider and they would like your opinion. Please be proud of your title, but don't inflate yourself or misrepresent yourself to patients as a physician. You are not. However you should be proud of being a mid-level provider. There was a lot of hard work to get to where you got so far. Good job.

[@michelleellis7448]

As a Nurse practitioner, I have watched health care become about the number of people we see each day, not the value of what I give my patients. Health care has become the sweat shops of America. Yes unionize to have a voice and become a public utility. Care for all and take care of your citizens.

[@dreindenver798]

Corporate greed is killing everything.

[@gianpaulgraziosi6171]

Dr. Christopher Lobaito, ER director of Chilton Hospital NJ, employee of team health, son of the Lobaito crime family and Proud Boy Handler of David Hefferle. I hope these people require an ER visit before me.

[@fezzypepper8525]

I'm a retired ER RN. I retired at 59 because of the low staff/for profit business model always in play.

[@NormanSilv]

Another example of corporate greed.

[@tirtraz3174]

This has happened to Nurses as well. I miss the respect and autonomy Nurses had in the 70’s & 80’s.

[@psyopswitch]

they have ruined the er care in my town. they closed down one of the 2 hospitals in my town they have taken may services that were available at both for yrs like mri and other diagnostic testing. they have taken away rooms for the sick.we get shuffled from one waiting room to an other. there is no more maturity care in a hospital in my town anymore we have to travel 50 miles in one direction and 75 in the other to get to a delivery room both my kids were delivered in this town. its such a shame everything is going backwards

[@richchappell]

I recently went to the ER at a local hospital due to low hemoglobin (5.8). I spent a week in the hospital which included two blood transfusions, iron infusions, B12 shots, insulin shots, at least 15 blood draws for testing, endoscopy, colonoscopy, and surgery to remove a tumor from my colon. All of the techs, nurses, and doctors were wonderful. I just saw the bill the other day. The base amount was $200k. Insurance paid $45k. I owe $250. I am so glad I have good insurance. I am still a little worried about receiving additional bills, because I don't think any of the doctors are employed by the hospital in a traditional sense. We shall see. While I believe all of the employees in medical care should be paid well, I don't believe that medicine should be a for-profit industry. That goes for medical insurance too. The focus should be on health outcomes, not share prices.

[@riverogue13]

As a pre-pa student this stuff makes me feel so hopeless abt the future of healthcare and whether I even want to go into it :(

[@Al-cm2ub]

I am a Nurse Practitioner in Connecticut and I will say in my ER does not behave that way. We give a leadership position to our APPs, MDs and DOs specifically to have checks and balances on all stages of care. I don't think I have ever worked for a better institution than Hartford Healthcare. This video is horrific 😢.

[@arrowrod]

Hilarious. I went to the ER, they said go to the waiting room. I laid down on the floor in front of the admitting clerk. Guess who got a gurney into the E.R.

[@timguillory6339]

Corporate greed is ruining everything

[@dragoonzen]

The CEOs needs a third mansion!!

[@maryshkamiceli8388]

Same thing is happening in veterinary medicine and dentistry. Upselling is commonplace. A private equity firm bought Art Van Furniture in MI, lost money, closed, lifelong employees lost their jobs. Example of a PE firm is Bain Capital (Mitt Romney) Greed and Debt: The True Story of Mitt Romney and Bain Capital. How the GOP presidential candidate and his private equity firm staged an epic wealth grab, destroyed jobs - and stuck others with the bill. (Rolling Stone)

[@nibsniven3497]

@@maryshkamiceli8388If Romney bought it, those employees most likely lost their pensions too. Stealing pension money is a primary motivation for corporate raiders.

[@STOP.Deleting.Truth.Comments]

It destroys nation, humanity, and Earth itself. It destroys the spiritual component of life.

[@Napstone]

@@nibsniven3497the sad part is the people who partake in corporate raiding are also the ones that pass the bill that make corporate raiding of retirees pension, legal in congress 🤦‍♀️ …

[@Pilarskiapril67]

When a company calls patients "customers" that's a giant red flag right there..

[@CorvidMusings]

It's happening in the mental health field too. Offices are adopting a repeat business model, and calling their patients "consumers".

[@Pilarskiapril67]

@@CorvidMusings It's just disgusting..

[@MMuraseofSandvich]

We're not even the customer-- the insurers are.

[@PraveenSrJ01]

Very true!!! Well said

[@akm03051]

I wish my doctor would treat me as a customer. Maybe I wouldn’t have to stay on hold for a half hour just to be transferred to a voicemail line where they call you back in three days.

[@ohiasdxfcghbljokasdjhnfvaw4ehr]

remember when you were a kid and you thought hospitals, ERs and ambulances were public services, not privately run corporations? good times...

[@SgtJoeSmith]

and you believed in santa, easter bunny, tooth fairy and jesus too?

[@codacreator6162]

I’m old enough to remember when they were highly subsidized.

[@codacreator6162]

We need new laws…

[@user-lo4me9oe9z]

@@SgtJoeSmith sorry no room for intelligent conversation with the heavily indoctrinated and brainwashed

[@talroitberg5913]

In some countries they are. Haven't always been -- political will gave the UK its NHS (and different political will underfunded it later...) It's not impossible for medicine to be a public service, but it would take big and difficult reforms in the USA. Electing Democrats helps some (eg the Affordable Care Act), but even a Democratic government is unlikely to make such huge changes to the system. Worth looking into how single payer healthcare happened in the UK and Canada, and how the various public and semi-public healthcare systems of continental Europe got into place. It would probably take some change in attitude among the public, and less power to megadonors and corporate lobbyists -- not easy, but theoretically possible. People have overcome bigger obstacles when they fought for it.

[@jeffk1482]

“…for people who are in trouble, or scared or dying…to come into that space and say ‘How can we make money here?’, that seems unholy”. It IS unholy. That comment was PERFECT to sum up the entire situation.

[@mangodoc10]

I’m a 60 year old ER doctor and I can’t wait until I can retire. Corporate medicine has stripped 90% of the joy from medicine. I never minded the long hours and unrealistic patient expectations, threats of lawsuits, drunks and body fluids and stress and panic and all the other tough issues that are inherent in emergency medicine, I mind the administration short-staffing the ER and whole hospital for the sake of corporate profit. Tide and Fords and hand lotion are fine in the free market, health care is not.

[@kvaka009]

How about airplanes? Those don't seem to be doing well in the market either. Let's start naming the problem: capitalism.

[@eryalmario5299]

>:(

[@bearcubdaycare]

​@@kvaka009I'd a lot rather fly United, for all its current problems, than Aeroflot.

[@stevekaylor5606]

High Finance that dominates the governments!@@kvaka009

[@Pulapaws]

We don’t have a free market and haven’t in a long time. We have a illusion of one for now. If we keep going with this huge monopolies that shouldn’t be allowed we be what AUS is going there with their grocery stores. How you know it not free when you hear it to big to fail and get government bailouts. It to big to fail shouldn’t be word ever said in a real free market. This look of the ugly stuff they do like Amazon with a small diaper company that refused to sell to them. They couldn’t pay up the stock because they wasn’t on the stock market but the lower their prices so long to make the other business go out of business. They was doing a pure huge negative on rash diaper sold. When the other business fall they came to them again and got it. Than double their prices on diapers.

[@incognito595]

One nurse put it this way...."Corporations disguised as Hospitals"....

[@paulewog857]

We are living inside a corporation and it’s getting ugly. My health care should not be decided by a corporation pandering to their shareholders. We need to shift the paradigm……. Let us use this platform to change ideas on how we can get our sovereignty back

[@Praisethesunson]

Changing corporate control over the basic necessities of life is against KZbin TOS

[@fallen4life080]

Careful, conservatives will tell you "iTs nOT my reSPOnSibILiTY tO paY fOr YouR unHeAlThY liFE sTYle". All the while they have no problem paying for other people's roads, other people's law enforcement, other people's fire departments, other people's public parks, etc.

[@ryandavis7593]

@@Praisethesunson You are absolutely correct! I am all about taking down the ugly greed of Alphabet. I bombard them every day with complaints about their greed, their support of scammers, their willingness to take pharmaceutical companies blood money and more. We all can make a difference.

[@nibsniven3497]

In a lot of cases the shareholders aren't profiting either because their shares pay little to no dividends. It's the greeps at the top paying themselves millions in salary and bonuses who always do well no matter who and what they destroy.

[@fallen4life080]

Careful, conservatives might complain that "it's not their responsibility to pay for your healthcare, save up your own money and be healthier"

[@seanwalsh5717]

Private Equity also is taking over elderly homes, and elderly people are dying earlier as a result.

[@lohphat]

And veterinaries -- only to soak customers with higher costs to funnel into the pockets of already rich people -- American Capitalism is just an extortion racket.

[@CallumMoscript]

private equity took over newsrooms all over America.

[@silvertone1]

Someone else make a good joke in bad taste here, I'm getting too old myself to qualify. :)

[@Xuvoid-jj3oz]

Private Equity is destroying everything. People harp that AI will destroy most white collar jobs soon, but it won’t; it’s going to be private equity that guts doctors and professionals in other industries in the near future.

[@exosproudmamabear558]

Well it is a good result for them. America doesnt even want to look after its working population why would it want to look after the old ones. If they could they would clone humans so they dont have to look after kids either. But now robot tech is getting better there is no need for that neither any humans.

[@poll2dock]

It’s not just the ER. If you’ve been a patient in a hospital in the last 20 years you know that care is horrendous.

[@rhondajefferson4679]

Poor staffing = low morale = poor patient care that’s why quit nursing.

[@davidd6660]

The ER, the floor, the icu, the OR, pcu, picu, nursing homes, home health, hospice.... not to mention the MD clinics. If you put the bean counters in charge then counting beans becomes the goal.

[@Jelly_Skelly]

As I often say, anything that involves money eventually becomes about money.

[@watamatafoyu]

Correct, and I get laughed at by business people when I say the purpose of the business shouldn't primarily be maximizing profit.

[@maryshkamiceli8388]

This is why I have become fearful of going to the doctor, especially after what I saw my Mom went through.

[@nfzeta128]

@@watamatafoyu That's taboo in the business world. To say businesses are just for making profit by means of providing a service or product but not necessarily MAXIMIZING profit is like a curse word in their world.

[@truckerdave8465]

This is why I quit accounting. Business lacks morality.

[@krickenthekraken8844]

As a veterinarian, I can tell you this is happening to our industry as well.

[@chuckmurphy1669]

Yes it is. I just spent close to $100 for an office visit. The medication needed to treat my dog is costing me $400 a month. I've seen vet bills go through the roof over the past few years. I understand now why people are dumping their pets on the side of the road. Very sad.

[@randygraham926]

As a dog owner -- I've experienced exactly what you're describing. The prices just hurtle insanely upwards if it's a chain or corporate owned. I try to use only independent vet clinics and I couldn't possibly afford taking a dog to emergency now. Found a small clinic to perform a surgery on my 17-year old cattle dog -- it's still expensive but 1/4 the cost quote of a corporate owned business.

[@chuckmurphy1669]

@@randygraham926 We are shopping around for a more affordable vet clinic. Hoping to find a decent one soon.

[@maryshkamiceli8388]

Then you have the damn bill dodgers who have ruined it for every pet owner who used to be able to make payments to the vet because trust between them was real. Pet insurance industry operates just like the human health insurance industry by weeding out coverage for pre-existing conditions. Rescued animals almost always have pre-existing conditions and an unknown medical history. Consider dogs with stifle conditions, limb deformities or dental malocclusions, do pet insurance companies deny these animals coverage?

[@jessicac4751]

Yes!!! I've been ranting about that more and more recently as well as I watch more and more independent vet clinics and hospitals get gobbled up. It's absolutely DISGUSTING. Private equity firms have their grubby, filthy hands in everything. It's infuriating that this shit is allowed.

[@casstay4499]

Everything that is wrong with America…

[@paulewog857]

Very nicely and simply put. Its by design and that kinda hurts

[@Nasa-cosmonaut]

No industry is safe. Profits over people, I'm disgusted with our government

[@tvviewer4500]

You mean democrats? They own all the hospitals

[@PraveenSrJ01]

I rather live in another industrialized country such as Canada 🇨🇦 or Denmark 🇩🇰

[@paulewog857]

@@PraveenSrJ01 hi, I have a question:. I’m wondering if you’d taken much time or put any thought into just exactly what we are snd what we are doing here. I just don’t feel there’s much need for much industrial anything to a point. I know we are more the.slave species that has better things to do than destroy our planet to make cheap things to make more work for ourselves snd have more pollution at the end.