June 2004
Canadian Medical Association Journal
Private health care costs more Devereaux and colleagues present their systematic review and meta-analysis of 8 studies comparing payments for care at private for-profit and private not-for-profit and private not-for-profit hospitals in the United States. The pooled estimate of the 8 studies demonstrates conclusively that private for-profit hospitals are associated with higher payments of care.
The authors state this finding, combined with research they conducted previously that found private for-profit hospitals had higher risk-adjusted mortality rates, "strongly supports a policy of not-for-profit health care delivery at the hospital level."
In a separate commentary, Woolhandler and Himmelstein discuss the dangers of handing over health care services to private enterprise.
p. 1817 Payments for care at private for-profit and private not-for-profit hospitals: a systematic
review and meta-analysis
� P.J. Devereaux et al
p. 1814 The high costs of for-profit care
� S. Woolhandler, D.U. Himmelstein
| |
|