Kudos to Jindal for privatizing charity system--

Quin Hillyer summarizes the impact of the privatization of the charity system in a recent column LINK

quote:

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So much for the dire warnings of liberal politicians like state Rep. John Bel Edwards, who ludicrously claimed that what he wrongly described as the feds’ “unequivocal” rejection of the lease arrangement would mean — quite definitively — that “Louisiana’s citizens will lose up to $500 million in federal health care funding.”

First, the budget numbers: From what originally was budgeted for $1.1 billion for the former charity hospitals in the fiscal year that ended June 30, the state spent $52 million less than anticipated. That’s a significant savings (about 5 percent), which provides a nice cushion for the new fiscal year.

Then there’s the improvement in services. The administration notes that private management has opened new urgent care centers in north Baton Rouge and in Lake Charles; a new orthopedic clinic and breast health clinic in Lake Charles; and an additional cardiologist, urologist and family health physician in Houma, along with two new digital mammogram units. In Shreveport and Monroe, MRI appointment times have been cut from more than 60 days all the way down to one to two days, while the total clinic backlog has been reduced from 12,000 patients to 1,800.

Newspapers across the state have noticed, with glowing news stories about specific service improvements appearing in the Houma Courier and the Monroe News-Star — the latter also noting the expected opening in November of a new cardiac catheterization lab at University Health Conway.

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I agree that privatization of the operating of these hospitals was a good idea and far superior to actual state operation of the hospitals. What I would prefer is that the state sell the hospitals all together and voucher the medicaid services so that all providers can compete for the business. There would be less potential corruptions and even better access to services under such a system.

Nonetheless, the Governor deserves applause from the left and the right for this change. I doubt Rex will applaud given his hatred of any good idea hatched by a republican. People who actually care about health care to the poor and savings to taxpayers should take note of this very positive change in Louisiana health care services for the poor.

(Jindal should not have supported building the largest charity hospital in the history of the state in New Orleans however.)