Few Tax-Exempt Hospitals Provide Charity Care

[babylonsister]

Minority of Tax-Exempt Hospitals Provide Most Charity Care

By BARBARA MARTINEZ and JOHN CARREYROU


A report from the Internal Revenue Service found that a small minority of nonprofit hospitals provide the bulk of uncompensated care for the poor, rekindling concerns about the tax-exempt industry at a time when government aid to corporations is drawing fire.

The IRS also found that the top executives at a group of 20 hospitals it examined more closely earned an average of $1.4 million a year. At least one of the 20 hospitals was compensating its top executive excessively, the agency said. It declined to name any of the hospitals in the report.

The American Hospital Association called the report "seriously flawed," saying the agency is "undercounting community benefit" and "overcounting executive compensation."

The IRS report may renew efforts in Congress to develop firm rules about how much community benefit nonprofit hospitals must provide to maintain their tax exemptions. Nonprofit hospitals account for the majority of hospitals in the U.S. In return for not paying taxes, they are expected to provide benefits to their communities, including charity care.

Some nonprofit hospitals have drawn criticism for posting big profits, amassing large cash piles and paying their top executives handsomely while not providing enough free care to poor patients.

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[physioex]

1. Pffft....

So why doesn't Congress renew their efforts to cover every single american so that hospitals will know they will get paid for the care they indeed provide.

[madrchsod]

2. there`s a case weaving its way through the federal court in illinois

over the ability of local taxing bodies to levi taxes on non profits if they do not provide a certain level of "free care". some hospitals are avoiding the problem by paying "fees/taxes" to local governments and paying fees before construction,and other clever ways to avoid actually having to provide "free care". the case started in champaign/urbana several years ago,the hospital lost, and it is now under appeal.