!!!P.S. The following History and recent Children's stats linked to, need to be emphasized!!! Update: And it gets worse: KIDS!!!!
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This site has managed to point out a lot of problems in kidney dialysis, what may get lost is solutions. A person can look to one area that might not seem obvious at first - utilities. Both carve out a small geographical area and aren't subject to a lot of competition. Both have seen their share of problems when the for-profit motive is factored in (Dennis Kucinich's 'Division of Power and Light' is an excellent read). However what differs is the number of different companies in each field. A quick search shows there are 1600 electric utility companies in the United States! So what about kidney dialysis - there are basically two companies. And I don't know how things are in other parts of the country, but where I'm at the lights stay on for the most part. The kidney dialysis companies have seen more than their share of problems.
I have to wonder what would happen if we only had two for-profit utility companies in the US. Would they become so powerful and influential they would be allowed to basically police themselves? (the fox watching the hen house) Would it be lights out like in kidney dialysis?
And if for example there was a problem with our electricity in my area, who would we have a better chance against - a smaller regional carrier, or a big national corporation! I would prefer taking on the little guy!
I'll finish by saying dialysis state inspection teams - not the feds - have kept many a patient alive! And I wouldn't be surprised to find out my state's utility commission has been a big part in keeping my lights on!
In these two cases smaller seems better.
