SPECIAL REPORT: Jarrod McNaughton, vice president, San Joaquin Community Hospital/ Adventist Health
| Thursday, May 28 2009 06:39 PM
Last Updated Thursday, May 28 2009 06:39 PM
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Jarrod McNaughton
Imagine being in line at a grocery store, waiting to purchase a gallon of milk priced at $5. There are four other people in front of you waiting to purchase a gallon of milk as well. However, you notice each person is paying less than $5. One buys it for $2.50, another for $1.50, another for $3 and one doesn’t pay anything at all. When you get to the checker, he charges you $18, enough to pay for yours and the leftover balances of everyone else’s.
Welcome to the world of health care in the United States. In health-care terms, if you’re the last person in line who pays $18 for the gallon of milk, you’re the one with commercial insurance like Blue Cross or Blue Shield, which pays a higher price for the same service. That higher price helps pay for all the people in front of you who don’t have the ability to pay for their health care.
Today’s health-care system is under enormous financial pressure. Healthcare premiums and costs are increasing, yet reimbursement rates from government and some private insurers still fail to cover the cost of providing care.
While the system continues to struggle, hospitals are on the front lines delivering care to patients first, and worrying about payments and reimbursements later. We operate an emergency room, provide critical care, meet demands for the latest technologies and treatments, and provide care for all patients — whether or not they can afford to pay.
Any proposed fixes to our health-care system must start with changes that address the millions of Americans who have no health coverage, and the millions more covered by government programs like Medi-Cal, which pay only a fraction of the cost of care.
