[HN Gopher] Profit-Obsessed Private Equity Is Now Dominating the... ___________________________________________________________________ Profit-Obsessed Private Equity Is Now Dominating the US Hospice System Author : pessimizer Score : 33 points Date : 2023-05-28 21:55 UTC (1 hours ago) (HTM) web link (jacobin.com) (TXT) w3m dump (jacobin.com) | version_five wrote: | I agree that this is concerning. I'd also say that the only thing | worse than PE running these would be the government running them | (see Canada). This is a natural role for religious organizations | (I'm not religious) and I don't know what most logically could | take their place that would actually care about people. | (Companies sort of have to due to competition, but after profits, | governments don't have to care at all). Ideally incentivizing | nonprofits to run these and disencentivizing for profit ownership | it probably most reasonable. | ska wrote: | > PE running these would be the government running them (see | Canada). | | I know there were a lot of problems in the Canadian system | caused by or exposed by Covid, but weren't the worst of them | private companies in some sort of private-public deal not, as | your wording suggests, the government running them? | | I may be misremembering. Somewhat like the US state-to-state | variability, province-to-province is quite different also I | suspect. | morkalork wrote: | I adamantly disagree, there are a number of religious sects | that follow a "life at all costs" line of belief and which | effectively tortures people by prolonging their suffering. It | is awful and has no place in a modern and compassionate | society. | funac wrote: | I'm not sure religious organizations (or, at least, the | religious organizations which would realistically be involved) | have a very good record of running institutions that involve | significant power asymmetries | madballster wrote: | While that sounds concerning, I have to question the underlying | thesis: Does private ownership always short-change customers, | like the subtitle insinuates? "hospice agencies are now for- | profit, putting profit maximization over patient well-being." | | Do hotels or restaurants put profit maximization over customer | well-being? If they do, they will be out of business rather soon. | If the hospices have competition and comparability (for patients | or their loved ones) then the same mechanism should work over | time. | RobotToaster wrote: | >Does private ownership always short-change customers, like the | subtitle insinuates? | | Corporations literally only have one goal, to generate the | maximum profit for shareholders. | | By definition profit is money not spent on making services | better. | nologic01 wrote: | Profit maximization is the overarching objective. Customer | dissatisfaction, complaints, fines etc is only a problem if it | starts eroding profits. | | Businesses have developed countless mechanisms to be able to | survive client backlash. | | Oligopolies and cartels is a major trick. Competition | highlights poor performers. Not good for business. | | Uninformed customers is another biggie. Hence, fight consumer | protection mechanisms, limit disclosure etc. | | Finally, regulatory capture, eg fixing the rules of the game so | that legally there is no recourse. | | So, yeah, in some ideal world in which economists win Nobel | prizes arguing the optimality of the corporate structure you'd | be right. | | We dont live in that ideal world. | | That sad thing is that, obviously, profit maximizing private | enterprize, just like the public sector itself, are | indispensable organizational units. | | Until we learn to tame them we will be paying the price. | efields wrote: | Hotels do this, and it's a race to the bottom. The hotel | experience has gotten so bad people accept going days without | turndown service now. | throwaway5959 wrote: | That's thankfully turning around. We were just in a hotel for | a few days and they offered to turndown our room each night | which we declined as we don't really make a mess and it was | only two nights. | version_five wrote: | Would you like to "make a green choice" and have our staff | ignore your dying loved one for the day in exchange for a $5 | Starbucks gift card? | mym1990 wrote: | Or maybe people want to be left alone in the evening? | chasing wrote: | > Do hotels or restaurants put profit maximization over | customer well-being? If they do, they will be out of business | rather soon. If the hospices have competition and comparability | (for patients or their loved ones) then the same mechanism | should work over time. | | This is not how it works and is why the government sometimes | needs to step in with regulations. As a founder in the | healthcare space once said to me: "I like regulations because | it means I can do the right thing for my customers and not have | to worry about competing with people who are willing to do harm | because it's more profitable." Companies need to be able to | compete. Some will do better. Some worse. But the government | needs to establish the baseline rules so society as a whole | isn't harmed. | ska wrote: | "private equity" is not the same as "private ownership", no? | omginternets wrote: | >I have to question the underlying thesis: Does private | ownership always short-change customers, like the subtitle | insinuates? | | What a bizarre misrendering of the _actual_ question, which is | "does private equity systematically undermine the quality of | healthcare?" | howard941 wrote: | Literally "vulture capitalism." | hammock wrote: | Kind of ironic to note that the world is upside down right now. | | Public companies, which are regulated precisely to protect the | financial interests of shareholders, are forgoing profits for the | sake of their ESG scores. | | Meanwhile, private equity, which is not regulated in the same way | and theoretically could be more easily managed towards objectives | other than profit, are smeared as "profit obsessed." | | Wild times | oldstrangers wrote: | Housing: Check | | Veterinarians: Check | | Healthcare: Check | | Education: Check | | Hospice? Check | | Cool. | toomuchtodo wrote: | Funeral Homes: https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/funeral- | homes-private... | | Defense: https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2023/03/22/as- | private-equi... | | Adult content: https://techcrunch.com/2023/03/16/pornhub-owner- | mindgeek-sol... | | Matt Stoller has lots of quality writing on the topic: | | https://mattstoller.substack.com/p/closing-down-the-billiona... | | https://mattstoller.substack.com/p/why-private-equity-should... | candiddevmike wrote: | Gotta find new industries to shuffle around all of their debt: | https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights... ___________________________________________________________________ (page generated 2023-05-28 23:00 UTC)