Bob Greene: I was fortunate enough to have two kids delivered at BJC. He says the experience cost him something like $15, but it didn't cost his fellow Washington University workers who were covered by their insurance premiums. But when we got the bill, there's a long list of stuff on the bill, and one of the charges is for orange juice, he says. Greene: That number doesn't really have any meaning. If everybody started bringing their own orange juice, because they said, my gosh, the hospital, when you get it there, they charge you $100. They really wouldn't reduce the cost of deliveries by $100, right? that's just an illusion
Steven Lipstein, President and CEO of BJC HealthCare--a $3 billion hospital system in St. Louis, Missouri--talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the economics of hospitals. They discuss pricing, the advantages and disadvantages of specialization in modern medical care, and culture and governance of non-profit hospitals vs. for-profit hospitals. At the end they talk about the positives and negatives of a national health board patterned after the Federal Reserve.