From the Washington Post we are hearing of the huge economic challenges nonprofit and for-profit hospitals are facing given the economy and particularly the extraordinary number of new uninsured. The challenges loom large and are projected to grow over the immediate if not long-range future.
The good news: maybe this crisis in hospitals will spur action by the legislature to support universal health care etc. Also, for nonprofits in particular, if I accept that hospitals are growing their debt while serving more folks without insurance, then at least nonprofits are being more nonprofit, albeit not necessarily great businesses although that was never my concern.
The bad news: well, maybe there really won't be as much health care access as needed but of course this is back to the good news -- the government will have to eventually step in.