For-profit, investor-owned hospitals and health care institutions charge 19% more than not-for-profit hospitals and health care institutions, meaning that Americans pay billions more than they need to for health care because of "private enterprise." Yet for-profit hospitals and dialysis clinics have higher death rates; investor-owned nursing homes are more frequently cited for quality deficiencies and provide less nursing care, and investor-owned hospices provide less care to the dying than non-for-profit facilities. "Why does investor ownership increase costs? Investor-owned hospitals are profit maximizers, not cost minimizers. Strategies that bolster profitability often worsen efficiency and drive up costs. " -- "The high-costs of for-profit care," by Steffie Woolhandler and David U. Himmelstein, Harvard Medical School, 2004 study.
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