Hospital employees were instructed through scripts to get more money from patients, even those who cannot pay for medical care. This program was designed to increase the hospital system's revenue, which currently has $10 billion in investments and recently merged with another nonprofit hospital.
Many nonprofit hospitals in the US are effectively operating as for-profit companies, competing with for-profit hospitals due to IRS allowing them to provide loosely defined benefits to justify their tax exemptions. However, the rules themselves that hospitals have to follow to justify their tax breaks are ambiguous.
The $600 stimulus package was flawed and lacked support for small businesses, despite the essential workers still risking their lives during the pandemic. The Paycheck Protection Program had some features but was not enough to help struggling businesses.
In this episode, the hosts warn about the existence of bad charities and how important it is to research before donating money. They discuss how some organizations just spend the money on publicity and overhead instead of helping people in need, while other useful groups operate on a shoestring budget.
In the fee for service model, physicians are incentivized by volume and not quality, leading to a lack of partnership between patients and doctors. Good customer service is a key aspect of good healthcare for patients and bad service can be detrimental to their health.
The founders of a mental health startup, including a psychiatrist named Dr. Davidson and a man named David Goldberg, began the business with the strategic use of referrals from the hospital where Davidson worked.