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Wednesday, July 07, 2004

DenverPost.com - Pius Kamau: "I remember watching Mercy Medical Center, a progressive institution near City Park run by nuns, wither and die.
For decades, Mercy served the poor of Capitol Hill, Park Hill and Five Points. As it drowned from insurmountable debts, many attempts were made to infuse funds from various sources, including a failed marriage to St. Anthony. Denver's rich and poor watched Mercy close its doors, with little public expression of support or sorrow from those it served. The lesson is quite simple: To survive in America, you must be profitable."
On Mike Rosen's radio show Dick Lamm told me he believes we have created a giant ponzi scheme with medical insurance. The very poor get medical care, but those with any assets loose them. What is the solution? As the writer of this Post editorial concludes:

Despite it all, people like George Ferguson (subject of article, has no medical insurance, in lawsuit with hospital that provided care at higher cost than charged for similar services to HMOs) remain burdened with debt and poor health. I'd like to think these lawsuits serve to clarify issues, but they don't. And as sad as Ferguson's travails are, greater tragedies live with us. Scruggs' lawsuits won't help the uninsured; to the contrary, they'll diminish funds available for the sick poor.
They will, however, keep the plight of the uninsured in the public's eye.

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