Update: McCain Selects Gov. Sarah Palin as Running Mate

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by GhettoDogAllStars

It's just hard for me to believe a hospital would be satisfied breaking even, and keep their doors open in that condition -- especially in this environment of rising costs.

You're still not getting it. Let me try it differently:

Hospitals aren't happy breaking even. They want a profit at all times. But the fact is it's impossible for many of them, so they move heaven and earth just to try to break even (some succeed, some fail).

But are you sure you understand what breaking even means? Breaking even means you cover all your costs and you have nothing left over. That means you manage to pay the ever rising malpractice premiums, you manage to pay for all the drugs and supplies which go higher and higher, you manage to pay all your employees and docs, and you bring in just enough revenue to cover all of this. Breaking even means you kept your operation running, cared for all your patients and gave them a good medical experience, and didn't have to lay anybody off. It's a very good thing (relatively speaking) for a hospital to break even these days.