When M&E = Monopoly & Agony

Every time a hospital merges or an insurer buys another piece of the system, they call it “efficiency.” Patients call it what it is: the Death Star expansion pack.

KFF Health News FTW. (Source in comments)

The “free market” in healthcare now means a handful of megacorps swapping pieces of your life like Pokémon cards. UnitedHealth owns your plan, your doctor, your pharmacy, your data, and probably your soul by now.

Welcome to monopoly wearing a stethoscope. (And the monocle isn’t covered by your plan)

We’ve hit peak absurdity.

A dose of Paxlovid costs $4,500 in a hospital. MRIs run $15,000. Joint replacements top $100,000. The only thing cheaper is your dignity.

Both parties love to scream “competition” while signing checks to the same lobbyists. Antitrust regulators toss subpoenas like confetti, but the mergers keep closing. Everyone’s “too big to fail” until patients start failing.

They’ll tell you consolidation helps “coordinate care.”

Sure. Like Skynet “coordinated defense.” hashtag#GetToTheChoppa

We don’t need more task forces or blue-ribbon panels.

We need to outlaw the mergers that turned your local hospital into a subsidiary of an insurance hedge fund.

If you think this doesn’t affect you, wait until your “in-network” doctor gets sold to your insurer and your copay doubles overnight.

We don’t need reform. We need rebellion. (Non-violent, Remember murder=bad)

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SOURCE ➡️ https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/health-system-mergers-higher-prices-trump-regulators-hospitals-insurers/