Why are nurses salaries regulated but not other more costly parts of health care?

Question

When Michael Dukakis was running for president he stated he would cap nurse’s salaries (nationally as he did in Mass) to help contain for profit health care costs. Essentially nurse’s salaries did become regulated. Based on years experience and area of the country the salaries are the same at all facilities in each region. Why isn’t this done for CEO and doctor’s salaries and for profit margins of any entity that uses federal funding (any medical facility that receives federal funds and any drugs or products discovered using federal money for research).

hamrrfan- look up Dukakis and his health care in Mass. Just because you either do not remember Dukakis' campaign and have not been made aware of the salary control does not make the facts go away.

Answer 1

It does seem that doctors and CEO’s salaries can vary greatly within any region of the USA and the nurses salaries are based on years of experience and not actual experiences (nurses salaries may vary a few dollars from facility to facility, where as a doctor or CEO’s salary can vary by a million dollars and pharmaceutical companies can get 1000% profit.).

I suppose one concern is that politicians get involved and promise federal tax money to guarantee high profits and salaries of doctor/ CEO’s in exchange for political support. For profit institutions paying its staff half a million to millions of dollars should not be eligible for federal funds. (Probably if they did not pay those salaries they would not be in debt and need the funding).

Answer 2

I hate to tell you this, Traveler, but hamrrfan is right, at least in my experience.

I DO remember Mike Dukakis' proposal. I also remember that he lost his bid for the presidency that year, so the idea went nowhere...except possibly in Mass.

I just recently completed a 4-1/2 year "tour of duty" as a public sector healthcare CEO. The government agency I headed employed hundreds of nurses with strong union representation, who negotiated healthy salary increases year after year. I can tell you categorically that there was nothing that looked even remotely like regulated salaries for nurses.

In fact, just the opposite was and is true. The competition for nurses among healthcare agencies is out of control. That competition resulted in my agency being pitted against far wealthier hospitals and healthcare agencies to get qualified nurses. Private hospitals have the luxury of paying bonuses to attract nurses, and they did. BIG, 5-figure bonuses. I could not possibly compete with that, because public employees generally are not well liked by taxpayers, and bonuses would have been seen as extravagant. Hell, half the time taxpayers expect public employees to work for free...but I digress.

MY counterparts at comparably-sized private, so-called "non-profit" hospitals were pulling down salaries 10-15 times what I was making...but again I digress.

The point is, there was no regulation of nurses' salaries anywhere in sight, even within the same geographic area. Now, I suppose it's possible that hospitals and healthcare agencies in a given region might privately "collude" to hold the line on salaries for nurses to stabilize the labor supply in the area. But even that would be no match for a labor shortage in some other area of the country where a hospital or hospitals decided to do a nationwide recruitment offering top dollar for nurses.

I certainly agree with your point about the CEOs and the docs. But I don't know what else to tell you. From where I sat, I wish there HAD been some regulation of nurses' and docs' salaries. It sure would have leveled the playing field.

Answer 3

I have been a nurse for 32 years. I am not aware of any government body regulating nurses salaries. My colleagues in different hospitals and agencies have different wages and salaries. Some are in unions.

Your information is inaccurate.

Answer 4

i imagine it will be if we ever go to universial healthcare