This week has been very stressful for me, because I have had some lingering health issues, so imagine my surprise when I opened my Nonprofit Nation book and started reading about nonprofit hospitals and health care providers!
I was very unaware of what Health Maintenance Organizations did and I certainly don't agree with them now. I think it is a very unjust thing to do for health care to be so hard to come by, and I like that the IRS has been locking down on nonprofit hospitals who have been stingy with their care provided to people who cannot afford it.
Making a Killing- What HMOs may mean to us
The above link is very important because I have seen things happen where health care has been delayed to the point of deteriorated health as a result. People should not have to fight with HMOs for health care- they were provided in the first place by nonprofits like Kaizer-Permanente.
I hate that it has to even be a debate as to whether we should have universal health care in the US or be able to fund military defense. I could go on for weeks (and my dad and I go at it for hours on this subject) but I'll digress and move to the Packers' article.
I hate the Packers (Niners 4 life!) but I love that their "owners" are their fans. The 49ers are owned by some complete jerks who only want to use the team to make money, not improve the franchise and win more games. I like to see that for this reason, the team has no issue with the collective bargaining agreement, because I'm pretty sick of it dominating Sports Center. The NFL should allow more teams to become nonprofit, mostly because they would make a lot more money and it wouldn't be from unfair ticket sales and taxes from the local economy that leaves the people crippled (Oakland Raiders, anybody)?. If given nonprofit status, the Niners would jettison to the playoffs for the first time in years, because the owners would not be profit-mongering people, but instead dedicated fans who won't be able to control the team 100%.
I was a little confused on the article about Detroit's attempted mergers of nonprofit and for-profit hospitals, and I think I lean a little towards the idea that this is no good. It seems to make it so that more and more people are shut out of affordable health care, even though the goals are the exact opposite.
Finally, the article about ADD had me reeling. I think many people are "diagnosed" with ADD because they want help focusing, not because they have an out-of-control disorder that disables them from interacting normally in society. In a place where Ritalin is peddled to college students so they can stay up all night and write papers, I think that more studies and research need to be done before diagnosing more people with the disorder.
Erin,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post. I totally agree, Niners for life! Ever since the 49ers changed ownership, they have gone down hill. Their stadium is horrible and it seems that they have been rebuilding for the past decade. That tells me the 49ers management have been making decisions solely based on profit. Ok, enough of that! I like your idea of creativity with teams in the NFL. They are in labor negotiations this year and it does not look good. Both sides are wanting more of the profit so be prepared for a lock-out.
I had fun with the article on ADD. I took the screening test and shook my head, here comes the next latest craze!
Erin,
ReplyDeleteThe article about the Detroit hospitals really got me going. I can't believe that non-profits that can pay for loans can't get them. The conspiracy theorist in me says that the banks are colluding with the for-profit hospitals but what is probably happening is that they have looked into the future trends and don't see good things for non-profits. Banks are in the business of making money as well and if things don't look good for their potential profits, they are going to give any money for it. It'd be nice if there was some kind of non-profit bank that helped fund health care providers.
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ReplyDeleteErin,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the HMO link. I've also had personal experience with people whose health deteriorated due to unnecessary bureaucratic complications. Have you ever seen Michael Moore's "Sicko"? There's some really interesting interviews in it involving people's battles with their HMO's.
I feel like I'm just reiterating what we've all been saying here - but an individuals health should not be determined by how much money they have in their banks, or the lack there of.