So, interestingly Centene (A private US #healthcare provider) is pulling out of the UK, having failed to capitalise on owning both a chain of GPs & hospitals - both of which are now up for sale.
Apparently they were unable to 'incentivise' GPs to refer patients to Centene hospitals & found there was insufficient margin for profit in the business they were able to direct to their own network.
It seems the UK 'market' for healthcare may be a harder nut to crack that US firms realise.
@ChrisMayLA6 a small amount of good news for day.
I'll take it.
Actually that was I found interesting... despite the #Tories putting in place the conditions for widened take-up of private #healthcare, its not proved as easy as many US firms thought - the social conditions (and mores) are still more different than a common language led them to believe
yes I agree, that is pretty much the only plausible explanation fr Barclay's pronouncements & action(s)
@ChrisMayLA6 UK private patients are likely to choose their consultant according to who is and isn't covered by their insurance, and then accept whichever hospital that consultant works at, deciding based on accessibility if there's a choice. The GP, being an honest professional, will recommend the relevant available consultants. There are, therefore, several steps in the decision making process as to which hospital the patient ends up at, none of which (unless they lie about the available consultants) are under the control of the GP, even if the GP wanted to join in that game.
So yeah, sounds like a broken business model to me.
@ChrisMayLA6 This could be a simple situation that the 'opportunity cost' means that it is still more profitable to fleece US citizens first - and that additional surplus can be deployed further down the road once the parlous state of the UKs decisions really kicks in.
Besides, inflation is going nowhere and Sterling is likely to tank relative to the Dollar - how would any profit earned in the UK improve revenues when returned to the parent division?
I think your second point is fair... but the situation seems to be they cannot make their business model work as well in the UK... so on one level the opportunity cost is what is drawing them back to the USA, but I think the issue of timing you mention is the key point - moved in too early?
@ChrisMayLA6 This story has been decades in the making, theres many more facets to go on this one, though the levels of deliberate mishandling of the health service twinned with chronic under funding is hollowing out.
Just remember, that the Government is likely to be wiped out in next years elections, which means that people who had placed bets on a continuing deregulatory, laissez-faire and libertarian direction are hedging their bets.
I doubt the Starmer Government will undo the damage alas
@ChrisMayLA6 Have you ever examined the abuses of the rail operating companies as a parallel case study regarding siphoning of funds and brittle financial stability of the non UK companies operating since the 1990s privatisation of British Rail.
And again wrt water companies?
Or the UK and its experiments with PFI?
Theres a reason why at uni we studied The Machinery of Freedom, there is an undercurrent among Tories trying to reset the clock where all functions and flows require private control
yes, our the years I has students do dissertations on these various cases & would like you seee very clear parallels
@ChrisMayLA6 Ah seen from your profile your professor role involves Lancaster University (sorry, the .us name threw me).
I studied at Dulwich College. look into the legacy of them owning such large swathes of the Southwark borough.
They own the only private toll road in London (sure it goes into their not for profit but its quite the legacy, which I think necessitates legislation to remove)
There a mini project on London Underground PPP/FFI radicalised me nice and early, what an uncouth policy
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