There are policy changes by federal health officials to stop disclosing mistakes made by hospitals. These mistakes are referred to as hospital acquired conditions (HACs) and eight types of HACs will no longer be reported to the public.
Some of these errors, such as leaving foreign objects in a patient’s body after surgery, are more common than one might think. Last year, it was reported that this may be occurring in the U.S. up to 6,000 times per year.
Some advocates for patient safety and patient rights are fighting this change in policy. They believe that patients and potential patients should be allowed to research these things and have the information available to them.
One could argue that this reduces competition between hospitals, although there probably isn’t as much competition as there should be already.
Many on the left like to say that everybody should be more equal. I suppose this is one way of achieving this goal. Give everyone a more equal chance of getting bad care at a hospital. Give every hospital a more equal chance of getting patients, even if a hospital tends to make a lot of mistakes.
Where is the Free Market?
Despite much of the rhetoric we hear today, there is not much of a free market when it comes to healthcare. There hasn’t been since at least the 1960s. Even the 1950s in the U.S. had some government control and regulation, but it was relatively small compared to today.
Today, government is involved in virtually every aspect of healthcare. There is Medicare and Medicaid, insurance mandates, licensing laws, drug laws, taxes, subsidies, and so much more. These laws are coming at us from every level of government, but especially state and federal.
If there is one aspect of medical care that still resembles something of a free market, it is that you can still walk in to any hospital or doctor’s office and the two parties can agree to do business. If a patient is willing to pay, then he can go anywhere that will take him. A hospital is mandated to accept any patient that walks in with an emergency (fake or real), but a patient can really choose to go anywhere that will take him.
Incidentally, when Hillary Clinton was pushing Hillarycare on the nation back in 1993, it would have essentially made this illegal. It would have been illegal for you to go to a doctor and pay him money for his services without government approval. It is amazing the things that politicians would send you to jail for.
This latest change in federal policy is not earth shaking, but it is another small step towards less competition and less consumer choice. It is another small step towards fully nationalized healthcare.
Until Americans demand something of a medical care system that resembles more of a free market than the fascist system we have now, then these small steps will continue. The politicians want full control over the care you receive.
My recommendation is to stay as healthy as you can and to stay away from the American medical care system as much as you can. If you have to see a doctor or go to a hospital, then you should depend on referrals from friends and family.
Whatever you do, don’t depend on the government for your information or anything else.
