Obi Wan Kenobi said, “The force can have a strong influence on the weak-minded.” I wonder if the Asheville vortex, in some parallel fashion, has greater drawing power on the poor. If not, maybe there is something inherent in the culture of Asheville that molds people into poverty.
Tonight, at the Buncombe County Commissioners’ meeting, Ron Paulus, CEO of Mission Health Systems, said 87% of patients at the facility pay below actual costs. The hospital is the worst in the state for full cost recovery. Typically, in other hospitals, 50-55% of patients have government- or self-payment plans, and 45% have insurance through their employer. Lots of other hospitals have lots of local and federal subsidies as well. Paulus said if one could pick Mission Hospital up and set it down in Raleigh or just about anywhere else in the state, it would automatically collect another $100 million a year.
