tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11093162.post343664846733471212..comments2024-03-23T19:16:01.555-07:00Comments on Can it happen here?: On feeling swine flu-ishjaninsanfranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07548452260456734928noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11093162.post-78838497339442738382009-07-22T11:39:03.055-07:002009-07-22T11:39:03.055-07:00They talk about health care costs being too high, ...They talk about health care costs being too high, but it's not from services provided, just the inflated costs of those services. Kaiser's cost-scalping measures are prime examples.<br /><br />Not testing for H1N1 was the reason the virus took hold in Mexico and killed so many. No one knew there was an epidemic until it was too late. <br /><br />Anyone who worked in San Francisco's healthcare industry in the 1990's knows the public cost to Kaiser's cost savings. <br /><br />Do you remember when Kaiser took over French Hospital? Its care quality plummeted as did its sanitation, cleaning just enough to make French the first hospital in the city colonized by MRSA, the staph bacteria that is resistant to even last resort antibiotics. <br /><br />Kaiser Geary and Kaiser Daly City followed suit. As Kaiser discharged patients to skilled nursing facilities like Laguna Honda, Hillhaven Nob Hill, and rehab centers and other hospitals, they eventually became colonized, as well. The only way to eliminate MRSA is to tear down the buildings, or treat the patients. <br /><br />The few dollars Kaiser saved on disinfectant in the 1990's, we as a society pay for in millions of dollars each year in healthcare costs to treat MRSA. <br /><br />And conservatives say we don't need to reform healthcare.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com