Hospital costs, not drug prices, are the real US healthcare scandal
By: Nisarg Patel
Hospital costs, not drug prices, are the real US healthcare scandal
Medical monopolies have allowed inflation to get out of hand, but American politicians are not paying
attention.
The parallels between banks’ skyscrapers in downtown Manhattan and today’s
hospital behemoths are striking: sparkling glass windows, vast marble lobbies and
expensively maintained greenery, with skyrocketing executive bonuses and global
brand recognition to boot. Similarly, they have both been large-scale recipients of
federal support. As hospitals struggled with Covid-19 last summer, the
country’s largest and richest health networks absorbed billions of dollars of
stimulus. The picture is reminiscent of Wall Street in 2008: much of America’s
healthcare sector has become too big to heal.
