The federal money was titanic, flooding hospitals with cash that stimulated record-breaking profits. A new report from Open The Books reveals that the 20 largest nonprofit hospitals in America received more than $23 billion in federal aid during the 2018-2021 time period, and “their cumulative net assets soared to $324.3 billion in 2021, up from 200.6 billion in 2018.” And, in a wonderful development for the hospitals’ top executives, those lavish taxpayer funds enabled many of them to get paid $10 million or more a year. Alas, as Patty discovered, all that sweet federal money came with a catch: it incentivized specific medical treatments for COVID-19 that happened to be deadly. If the hospital admitted you with a COVID-19 diagnosis — great, they got paid more! If they “treated” you with remdesivir, a drug well-documented as lethal — fantastic, they got a 20% bonus on the whole bill! If the hospital tortured you with mechanical ventilation that caused secondary bacterial pneumonia — hooray, they got an even bigger payout! And if the hospital really lucked out and you died of COVID-19 (even if not directly of COVID-19) — the cash bonanza was absolutely awesome. “The hospital billed over $500,000 for Tony’s treatment and they couldn’t even find someone to give him water,” Patty said. I notice that Patty can’t talk too long about Tony without breaking into sobs. “He was my best friend. He was my partner. We did everything together,” she said. And what they did together was not only difficult, it was inspirational. After they learned their son had autism, Patty and Tony teamed up to create two nonprofits to help kids with special needs in the Orlando area. https://www.activistpost.com/2023/05/documentary-how-hospitals-are-making-a-killing.html