A lot of people have dollar signs before their eyes concerning the additional revenue Mission Health moving from a nonprofit to a for-profit enterprise would bring. The revenue increase would, in fact, happen. Happy days are here again, ’cause the money just keeps a-rollin’ in!
The additional cost of that revenue would, of course, be passed along to Mission Health patients. So, in the end, in addition to soaring medical costs, patients would pick up the tab for repairing potholes, street repaving and whatever else the city councils and county commissions think we just can’t do without. Why not something breathtakingly beautiful down on the river to further spur the tourist industry or maybe something fabulously metropolitan to promote growth down the mountain in McDowell?
We would, in effect, be selectively taxing sick people to pay for it. Our communities would benefit at the expense of those people alone, and not at the fair and equal expense of us all. It is as simple as that. Frankly, the notion turns my stomach. Maybe I should see somebody in a Mission Health clinic about that, before the price goes up. A little something for the nausea, and I’ll probably be OK with the whole scheme!
— John T. Burgin
Black Mountain
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