Nonprofit Hospitals Face Scrutiny Over Practices

[kurth]

Nonprofit Hospitals Face Scrutiny Over Practices
By ROBERT PEAR

WASHINGTON, March 18 — Congressional leaders, concerned that many nonprofit hospitals are not providing enough charity care to justify their tax-exempt status, say they will set standards for the industry if it does not do so itself.

The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, who had already been examining nonprofit groups like United Way and the American Red Cross, is broadening his focus to include nonprofit hospitals, with an eye to legislation that would clarify standards for their tax exemptions. The commissioner of internal revenue, Mark W. Everson, said tax officials often found little difference between nonprofit and for-profit hospitals "in their operations, their attention to the benefit of the community or their levels of charity care."

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Health insurance companies typically negotiate with hospitals to secure large discounts off hospitals' posted prices. Uninsured people, with no one to negotiate on their behalf, are often charged much more than the insured, and some hospitals have been aggressive in trying to collect payment from the uninsured.

In a letter to the American Hospital Association this week, Mr. Grassley said he had "serious concern" about their billing and debt collection practices. He also expressed concern about the high salaries of some hospital executives, their joint ventures with commercial profit-making organizations and their use of profit-making subsidiaries...

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/19/politics/19health.html

[Why Syzygy]

1. As I understand it

and someone may correct me, they are not "nonprofit". They are "not for profit". There are different rules. I'm not sure how that would influence this information.

[kurth]

2. 'Not-for-profit' refers to activity, 'nonprofit' refers to organization

A "not-for-profit" activity is an activity not designed to make a profit (vs. an activity designed to generate a loss that can be used to offset profits or gains in other activities), and a "nonprofit" organization is established for purposes other than profit-making. However, "nonprofit" does not necessarily mean "charitable", and a "nonprofit" organization can have activities other than not-for-profit activities.

[nascar55]

3. A link to hospital

Pricing in Ohio .....care for ohio....hope this gives some insight on how the pricing works....:freak: http://www.careforohio.org/index.asp?Type=NONE&SEC={ED02387B-3137-46CE-BBD8-71FDAFC43B89}

[ashling]

4. Republicans trying to pretend

they have a soul.