Alternative Funding Policies for the Uninsured: Exploring the Value of Hospital Tax Exemption

The tax exemption accorded private, nonprofit hospitals is being subjected to more scrutiny as the numbers of uninsured grow; meanwhile, charity care competes with market-driven priorities. Current public policies tie hospital tax exemption to the provision of charity care, but there is a gap in the...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Milbank quarterly 2000-01, Vol.78 (2), p.185-212
Main Authors: Kane, Nancy M., Wubbenhorst, William H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Average cost
Bad debt
Care
Charity
Financial Support
Financing
Health care
Health Care Services Policy
Health Insurance
Health Policy - economics
Health services
Hospital costs
Hospitals
Hospitals, Voluntary - economics
Hospitals: Reassessing Accountability
Humans
Income taxes
Medically Uninsured
Models, Economic
Non-profit organizations
Nonprofit hospitals
Nonprofit Organizations
Original
Poverty
Private health care
Property taxes
Public Policy
Tax benefits
Tax Exemption
Tax exemptions
Taxation
Teaching hospitals
Uncompensated Care
Uninsured patients
United States
USA
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The tax exemption accorded private, nonprofit hospitals is being subjected to more scrutiny as the numbers of uninsured grow; meanwhile, charity care competes with market-driven priorities. Current public policies tie hospital tax exemption to the provision of charity care, but there is a gap in the size and distribution of values between tax exemption and the charity care that is provided. Most hospitals, in a study reported here, provided free care at a level below the value of their tax exemption, even when 50 percent of bad debt was included in the care value. However, hospitals in the poorest communities offered considerably more care than the value of their tax exemption, whereas those in wealthier communities offered considerably less. Policies at local, state, and federal levels should be designed to exert leverage on hospitals to provide free care at a level commensurate with the value of their tax exemptions.
ISSN:0887-378X
1468-0009
DOI:10.1111/1468-0009.00168