Competition Would Be Good For Our Health

We all want lower health care costs and a private company is willing to build what amounts to a stand-alone emergency room in the Northtowns.  The Amherst IDA granted them $200,000 in tax breaks but has "reconsidered."

Amherst Industrial Development Agency board members changed their minds Friday on granting tax breaks for a proposed urgent care facility on Niagara Falls Boulevard.

The board, by a 4-0 vote with one abstention, rescinded the nearly $200,000 in tax breaks that it granted last month to Exigence LLC to build a 6,000-square-foot urgent care facility at 2099 Niagara Falls Blvd.

Concerns about the project’s impact on Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital, which is tripling the size of its emergency room, along with questions about how it might affect a possible transformation of DeGraff Memorial Hospital in North Tonawanda into an urgent care facility prompted the IDA to reconsider its approval last week.

Another urgent care facility would spur competition, lead to faster emergency room service and actually allow people to compare prices.  Those generally leads to lower consumer costs.  Remember when Buffalo was the 2nd most expensive city in the country to fly to?  The NFTA attracted competition and local airline prices plummeted. 

It's a simple concept. But when it comes to health care, rational thinking goes out the window. 

I hope it gets built despite the IDA's decision.  We need more health care options around here -- not fewer.  That's why the state's decision to close Millard Fillmore Gates Circle and St Joseph are so preposterous.   There's a race around here for our health care dollars and it can only lead to better service; but New York State and its development agencies see competition as something to be avoided and discouraged.

It makes no sense.

Comments

[LC Scotty]

While I certainly agree that competition benefits the consumer, do you really think that those seeking emergency care are going to do price comparisons before engaging services for, say, a gunshot wound or other emergency care?