My letter to a medical lab corporation

I am writing to express my grave concern, as a citizen, about the enormous disparity between what for-profit medical providers such as ** charge uninsured vs. insured patients. I believe that this is a serious problem that adversely impacts our nation and its citizens, and that it is your duty as corporate citizens to redress this problem, which is in large measure caused by your misconduct, as soon as possible.

I intend to use the above-referenced bill as an exemplar in correspondence to my congressman to point out this disparity. For-profit companies, such as **, are charging, as this bill demonstrates (in many cases) as much as eight times as much to uninsured patients as to insured patients. This is one of the reasons that health care has become so unaffordable in this country, with the most adversely affected being those least able to afford it. I can scarcely think of a better definition of corporate immorality. I will also point out that it is one of the reasons why the time has come to institute single payer (Medicare for All) with strict cost control regimes, to ensure affordable health care for all.

When (not if) this finally becomes the law in this country, the greed, systemic inefficiency, and disregard for the moral mission of caring for the sick, which has for years characterized what I choose to refer to as the illness exploitation industry in America, will have compelled the reform; in other words, you will have brought it on yourselves. When that happens, everyone will be better off. Nonprofit health systems such as operate in most of the rest of the civilized world actually provide lots of employment and gainful economic activity for millions of people; just not ridiculous and immoral disparities that cause huge suffering to millions of uninsured people and outsize profits to a few.