Really interesting examination of the further evolution of our for-profit healthcare system [1], specifically the entrance of private equity and the disastrous consequences of their actions. I’ve long thought the correct path forward for healthcare in the US should be single payor, but the political climate and deep entrenchment of the current system make such a change impossible. However, as healthcare consumes more and more of GDP, attracting more and more financial sharks (like private equity firms), producing more and more tragic stories like Hahnemann, we could witness a violent transformation of the way we finance healthcare in the US.

Also, note this brazen example of injustice:

When I spoke to Freedman by phone last summer, he had returned to California, where he had bought a new eight-thousand-square-foot house south of Los Angeles, with twenty-foot ceilings and a stone spa, for nearly seven million dollars…He was asked to step down from his board position at the University of Southern California. “That really hurt me,” he said.

Hahnemann patients suffered serious health consequences and untold psychological and financial impact. Hahnemann employees similarly suffered the stress of job insecurity and an uncertain future. Freedman, meanwhile, went back to California and bought a new mansion.

Yes, the American healthcare system is a for-profit system and we should be framing it that way in all our discussions because it has implications for how the system functions and what levers are available fo reform. ↩