Uncompensated Care Costs

Non-Profit Health Systems Need Positive Margins

March 4, 2024 - Non-profit health systems receive a lot of scrutiny because of their tax status, with some critics accusing systems of valuing revenue over patient care. However, a new report from Deloitte makes the point that even non-profit health systems need to generate positive margins to keep up with high-quality, equitable care. Razor-thin margins have...


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WA Non-Profit Health System Will Reimburse Patients in Charity Care Agreement

by Victoria Bailey

PeaceHealth, a Washington-based non-profit health system, has agreed to pay $4 million to 4,000 patients after it failed to disclose charity care policies before collecting payments. The agreement...

Non-Profit Hospitals Up Community Benefits to $130B

by Jacqueline LaPointe

A new analysis released by the American Hospital Association (AHA) shows increasing levels of community benefits provided by non-profit hospitals. Non-profit hospitals delivered nearly $130 billion in...

Nonprofit Hospitals Offer Less Charity Care Despite Rising Profits

by Victoria Bailey

Nonprofit hospitals are directing profit increases toward cash reserves instead of charity care, a study published in Health Affairs found. Hospitals use cash reserves to cover capital costs, offset...

Uncompensated Care, Area Disadvantage Impair Safety-Net Margins

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Safety-net hospitals with the highest levels of uncompensated care and area socioeconomic disadvantage have lower margins compared to other safety-net providers, according to a recent study out of...

Tax Breaks Exceeded Charity Care Spending for Nonprofit Hospitals

by Victoria Bailey

Nonprofit hospitals received more in tax breaks than they spent on charity care in 2020, with the combined fair share deficit totaling $14.2 billion, according to a report from the Lown Institute. The...

AHA: Financial Assistance One Piece of Hospital Community Benefits

by Editorial Staff

The American Hospital Association (AHA) has responded to a recent analysis from Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) that found tax exemptions provided to nonprofit hospitals exceeded hospital charity care...

Court Rejects Property Tax Exemptions for 4 PA Non-Profit Hospitals

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Several non-profit hospitals in Pennsylvania have failed to convince a court that they are purely public charities and, therefore, should qualify for property tax exemptions. The Pennsylvania...

NYC Nonprofit Hospitals Saw High Tax Breaks, Low Community Investments

by Victoria Bailey

New York City nonprofit hospitals had a fair share deficit of $727 million in 2019, with nine major facilities spending less on community investments than they received in tax breaks, according to a...

Medicare, Medicaid DSH Payment Methods Exacerbate Racial Disparities

by Victoria Bailey

Disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments from Medicare and Medicaid may further racial disparities by basing allocations on patient healthcare use, a study published in JAMA Network Open...

KFF: Varying Hospital Charity Care Policies Influence Spending

by Victoria Bailey

Half of all hospitals reported spending 1.4 percent or less of their operating expenses on charity care in 2020, but spending varied due to different state-level charity care policies, according to...

AHA: Metropolitan Anchor Hospitals Serve More Vulnerable Populations

by Victoria Bailey

Metropolitan Anchor Hospitals (MAHs), which serve low-income and marginalized urban populations, offer a disproportionately high share of uncompensated care and have lower operating margins compared to...

Most Nonprofit Hospitals Updated Charity Care Policies During Pandemic

by Victoria Bailey

Nonprofit hospitals were more likely to make positive changes to their charity care policies rather than restrictive updates during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published in JAMA Network...

340B Hospitals Treated High Shares of Underserved Populations

by Victoria Bailey

Compared to non-340B hospitals, 340B hospitals provided care for a higher share of historically underserved populations, including dual eligible beneficiaries, people with disabilities, and Black...

340B DSH Hospitals Provided $41B in Uncompensated Care in 2020

by Victoria Bailey

Despite experiencing negative operating margins, 340B disproportionate share (DSH) hospitals provided 67 percent of all uncompensated care in 2020, according to a report from 340B Health and...

Nonprofit Hospitals Offered $110B in Community Benefits in 2019

by Victoria Bailey

Nonprofit hospitals offered more than $110 billion in community benefits in fiscal year 2019, exceeding the value of their federal tax exemption by nearly nine times, according to a report Ernst &...

Nonprofit Hospitals Saw High Tax Breaks, Low Charity Care Spending

by Victoria Bailey

Most nonprofit hospital systems spent less on charity care and community investments than they received in tax breaks, with total fair share deficits amounting to $18.4 billion in fiscal year 2019,...

Mass Hospitals Offered Low Charity Care Despite High 340B Revenue

by Victoria Bailey

Hospitals have seen stark increases in revenue generated from the 340B drug pricing program, but Massachusetts hospitals had low levels of charity care, indicating that the health systems are pocketing...

Hospital Uncompensated Care Costs Down After LA Medicaid Expansion

by Jacqueline LaPointe

After Medicaid expansion in Louisiana, hospital uncompensated care costs decreased by about a third—significantly more compared to some other expansion states—with public and rural...

Biden Administration Recommits to COVID-19 Reimbursement

by Jacqueline LaPointe

The Biden administration will provide COVID-19 reimbursement to clinicians vaccinating uninsured patients, according to new CMS guidance. The guidance released on Feb. 26, 2021, stated that providers...