> Realistically, non-profit hospitals aren't non-profit because they are altruistic in some sense. It's because that is a tax-efficient structure for them.
I disagree. There may be some exceptions, but generally non-profit hospitals were not set up as for-profit companies because the primary purpose of a for-profit company is to generate value for its shareholders. Not having shareholders, who if large enough have considerable power over you, removes a very large and perverse incentive to put profits over the public the hospital is serving. Instead the profits generated (and non-profits can turn a profit of course) must be re-invested into the business as retained earnings, thus benefitting the public.
IMO, for-profit hospitals should not exist for the same reason that for-profit prisons should not exist.
I disagree. There may be some exceptions, but generally non-profit hospitals were not set up as for-profit companies because the primary purpose of a for-profit company is to generate value for its shareholders. Not having shareholders, who if large enough have considerable power over you, removes a very large and perverse incentive to put profits over the public the hospital is serving. Instead the profits generated (and non-profits can turn a profit of course) must be re-invested into the business as retained earnings, thus benefitting the public.
IMO, for-profit hospitals should not exist for the same reason that for-profit prisons should not exist.