ce_confessor t1_je06j93 wrote
UPMC is not non-profit across the board. Divisions that work in for-profit sectors, such as the insurance division are designated for-profit. Why this concerns me is that people seem to be suggesting that the hospitals, which are non-profit, should have their status revoked. For-profit hospitals are not something I want to see any more than for-profit prisons or other services that should not be profit driven. If the lines are blurred in places, it should be reviewed and changed if needed, but I don’t like the idea of a blanket revoking of the status particularly where hospitals are concerned.
antlerstopeaks t1_je0dfnn wrote
The fact that an insurance company can own the hospital they are charging for their services is completely insane. They should be completely separate entities and in no way working together.
They essentially get to decide what they charge themselves with made up numbers to screw people over.
Ellis4Life t1_je0fyom wrote
This was essentially Highmark’s stance when UPMC decided to get into the insurance game. Once they failed to prevent that though, they said two can play at that and founded AHN to get into the hospital game. This model has been such a detriment to the city in regards to affordability and access to care.
ce_confessor t1_je0h5vk wrote
There are tons of problems. And my comment isn’t meant to be pro-UPMC. I’m commenting on my hesitation to support for-profit schools and hospitals. In general, their business models have always seemed a bit evil.
ktxhopem3276 t1_je0ozao wrote
I think the issue is UPMC should be broken up into smaller pieces like separating insurance and hospitals and spinning off a few hospitals so they don’t own half the hospitals in the county. The non profit status is a deflection from the real issue of market concentration.
AyeAyeCaptain t1_je0im8h wrote
UPMC insurance coverage/payout is horrible. The company loses money on the non-profit side because the for-profit side nickels and dimes them.
ahhhhhhhhyeah t1_je08pob wrote
People here will bite off their nose to spite their face just to stick it to UPMC because UPMC sucks. But all of these decisions would affect AHN and any other health provider.
If people think health care is expensive, wait until hospitals have to shift costs they would lose from other areas.
Gainey isn’t the first to try this and it won’t go the way he plans because it’s a bad idea
LostEnroute t1_je0aus3 wrote
Was it a bad idea for Boston? Even Erie gets more from their faux non-profits than PGH.
dazzleox t1_je0e03o wrote
Good points. Yale does a lot more for New Haven as well. Pottstown hospital is even paying 50% (I think) of a full tax rate as a PILOT as a major benefit to its school district.
ce_confessor t1_je0b4j2 wrote
I don’t know. I’ll have to look into that. I’m not pretending to have the answer.
LostEnroute t1_je0f6ld wrote
I didn't reply to you, so not expecting you to have any answer.
Avocado_Amnesia t1_je0f550 wrote
That's based on the assumption that the money saved on taxes is going to reducing treatment cost, rather than paying out bonuses to executives and building fancy new facilities that don't meet the needs of the people working in them.
I've seen a couple studies over the years that suggest NFP hospitals have costs mostly in-line with those of for profits, but they are losses of absolutely massive tax sources for their cities, leaving local services devoid of huge opportunities they could have otherwise.
And that's not even regarding hospitals that are also the biggest name in insurance in their local areas as well.
ahhhhhhhhyeah t1_je0h0x4 wrote
This won’t stop the building of new facilities that don’t fit what people need, it won’t make a more equitable health care environment at all. It will just make the expense of running hospitals more stringent. What people also miss here is that UPMC operates hospitals that take people without insurance, which operate on huge losses. Tightening their bottom line is going to mean these are some of the first hospitals to close, and others are likely to follow for a system that was not setup for this kind of tax burden.
Having more hospitals isn’t the best thing but for some rural areas it is absolutely necessary.
dazzleox t1_je0fcrq wrote
They claim even physically disconnected parking lots and empty lots for future development that they own are non profit as well. I do not think if these cases go through the HUP test that UPMC will prevail.
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