Sarasota Health News

Editor's notebook, Oct. 21

A trip to Disney for our twins’ fourth birthday -- and the lengthy recovery from said trip -- caused me to miss putting out a column marking our third month of operation.

But it turned out well, because now I can close out our first quarter of operation by noting some unusual recognition from the Sarasota alt-weekly Creative Loafing.

I’ve won at least a dozen local, state and national awards for my work over the years -- journalism gives out awards like paperboys (used to) toss papers -- and even had a hand in a Pulitzer Prize-winner, but this might be my favorite ever.

It’s ungracious to argue when someone compliments you, but I have to say that doing this doesn’t take any particular bravery. I’m just doing what I did before, but better.

The story to the left, on hospitals seeking pay for taking care of the county’s poor, is a pretty good example. As far as I can tell, no other media outlet has picked it up. (Except for the outstanding HealthNewsFlorida website.) It has been the second-biggest story on the site to date, with nearly 300 reads so far. And I don’t know if my former bosses at the Herald-Tribune would have printed it.

But it illuminates the major issue of this year -- how many people can’t afford the health care they need, the cost to the people and institutions that provide it, and the moral issue of who should pay for that care.

My oh-so-insightful wife and I had this talk over the dinner table. Her take: Do hospitals have a moral right to ask the county -- and, by extension, all of us -- to pay those bills?

The hospitals in question are for-profit businesses, she said. They pick and choose which services to provide, usually choosing the profitable ones. And, she noted, the county has a hospital that receives tax support to care for the poor.

My take was typical for a reporter: Whether they have a moral right is irrelevant -- the hospitals have asked for the money, and they may well have a legal right to do so. Remember that turning away poor patients is not an option; federal law requires all hospitals to treat and stabilize any patient who enters the ER.

And, of course, there is a moral right at hand here. Step back from the hospitals, to the person who walks into the emergency room, a person with no job and no insurance -- and even by the most conservative measure, there are thousands of those people in Sarasota County.

Does that person have a right to medical care? Most of us, I think, would say yes. If so, then who should pay for that care? That’s what this story is getting at, and that’s what we need to keep in mind this month as Congress grinds out a healthcare reform bill.





	Editor's notebook, Oct. 21 A trip to Disney for our twins’ fourth birthday -- and the lengthy recovery from said trip -- caused me to miss putting out a column marking our third month of operation. But it turned out well, because now I can close out our first quarter of operation by noting some unusual recognition from the Sarasota alt-weekly Creative Loafing. I’ve won at least a dozen local, state and national awards for my work over the years -- journalism gives out awards like paperboys (used to) toss papers -- and even had a hand in a Pulitzer Prize-winner, but this might be my favorite ever. It’s ungracious to argue when someone compliments you, but I have to say that doing this doesn’t take any particular bravery. I’m just doing what I did before, but better. The story to the left, on hospitals seeking pay for taking care of the county’s poor, is a pretty good example. As far as I can tell, no other media outlet has picked it up. (Except for the outstanding HealthNewsFlorida website.) It has been the second-biggest story on the site to date, with nearly 300 reads so far. And I don’t know if my former bosses at the Herald-Tribune would have printed it. But it illuminates the major issue of this year -- how many people can’t afford the health care they need, the cost to the people and institutions that provide it, and the moral issue of who should pay for that care. My oh-so-insightful wife and I had this talk over the dinner table. Her take: Do hospitals have a moral right to ask the county -- and, by extension, all of us -- to pay those bills? The hospitals in question are for-profit businesses, she said. They pick and choose which services to provide, usually choosing the profitable ones. And, she noted, the county has a hospital that receives tax support to care for the poor. My take was typical for a reporter: Whether they have a moral right is irrelevant -- the hospitals have asked for the money, and they may well have a legal right to do so. Remember that turning away poor patients is not an option; federal law requires all hospitals to treat and stabilize any patient who enters the ER. And, of course, there is a moral right at hand here. Step back from the hospitals, to the person who walks into the emergency room, a person with no job and no insurance -- and even by the most conservative measure, there are thousands of those people in Sarasota County. Does that person have a right to medical care? Most of us, I think, would say yes. If so, then who should pay for that care? That’s what this story is getting at, and that’s what we need to keep in mind this month as Congress grinds out a healthcare reform bill.