(Frist's) HCA Exec Has Newfound Preference for Dems

[rainbow4321]

Translation: "Please help us out of the financial mess we were put in under the repuke regime that we $upported"


http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/061117/apfn_hca_congress.html?.v=1

The chairman of a hospital lobbying group told investors this week that industry insiders have secretly wanted Democrats to take over Congress.
But that secret wish wasn't backed by political contributions. In recent years, his lobbying organization has given money predominantly to Republican candidates.

"A lot of people think the Republicans are good for hospitals," Campbell said. "To be perfectly honest, behind closed doors, those of us that have been around truly believe we're better off with Democrats because Democrats tend to spend more money on health care. "They're actually more pro-hospital than a lot of the Republican counterparts,"

Campbell's comments have an added political twist, given his company's ties to outgoing Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican who is under federal investigation for selling HCA shares last year around the time insiders were selling and when the stock price hit a 52-week high.


HCA shareholders on Thursday voted to approve a $21.3 billion leveraged buyout deal that includes the assumption of an additional $11.7 billion in existing debt. The buyout comes as HCA and other hospital companies struggle with sliding earnings, slow growth and escalating expenses for the uninsured.

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http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/061117/hca_buyout.html?.v=3


HCA Completes $21.3 Billion Buyout With Private Equity Groups

HCA Inc., the nation's No. 1 for-profit hospital chain, completed a $21.3 billion leveraged buyout to take the company private on Friday, just a day after shareholders voted overwhelmingly to approve the deal.

<snip>
"Now that they're a private company with higher leverage, they'll be looking for ways to reduce their costs. I'm sure they'll be trying to run a very tight ship."

The buyout comes as HCA struggles with sliding earnings, slow growth and escalating expenses for the uninsured.

Bovender said after the shareholder vote Thursday that HCA planned to sell and acquire hospitals over the next five years.

[Mythsaje]

1. Well...duh?

I can't help but think the healthcare industry would be helped a great deal if we had some sort of universal healthcare. Even if the prices for services and materials were leveled off, the fact that people wouldn't end up in DEBT to the medical establishments, unable to pay their bills, would, over time, balance everything out.

Do you know that a box of surgical gloves (1 box of 100 pairs) can cost as much as $100.00? And the damned things are made in China or Indonesia.

That's just crazy.

[rainbow4321]

3. Tell me about it..

The facility I work for charges a patient $200/day for a pulse oximeter..machine that we sometimes leave patients hooked up to so we can watch their oxygen level. Which means the machine was paid off LONG ago given how many times we use the machines, especially in the Neonatal ICU where the babies can be on it for months.
Hell, we charge adult patients for EVERYthing: water jug, urinals, blue pads to keep their bed dry. "Scan, scan, scan" says the sign in our stock room..can't have someone getting a free box of those sandpaper quality tissues or anything.
Docs not even stepping inside patients' rooms during their rounds yet you know that they are getting a consultation fee.
Skimping of the nursing staff yet not backing down on how many patients that they admit.
The list goes on and on.

MY wish list: For the Dems to look further into the Frist stock deal that was in the news last year...was there insider trader, etc. Then we would see HCA not too happy about the Dems being in charge.

[Mythsaje]

4. I know it...

Hospitals and other medical centers are struggling to stay above the water, and shifting costs to patients for things that most other industries would consider just the price of doing business.

[w4rma]

2. Democrats are better for hospitals, but I hope they aren't better for HMOs. (nt)