What do we want and what do we get from not-for-profit hospitals?
The tax exemption for not-for-profit hospitals has been subject to many recent challenges, in part related to concerns over whether these hospitals provide sufficient levels of community benefits to merit tax exemption. Computing the value of community benefits for California hospitals as the sum of uncompensated care, education and research, net income, money-losing services, and price discounts from for-profit hospitals reveals that 20 to 80 percent of hospitals would have met various recommended community benefits standards. There is a clear need for hospitals and their communities to establish dialogues on what levels of community benefits are appropriate.
Department of Health Administration, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond 23298.
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Clement
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Smith
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Wheeler
D000066:Accounting / Q000379:methods; D002140:California; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations / Q000191:economics* / Q000592:standards; D003625:Data Collection; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000191:economics; D017722:Hospital Charges; D006788:Hospitals, Voluntary / Q000191:economics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007182:Income; D015397:Program Evaluation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012109:Research Support as Topic; D013660:Taxes / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D017664:Uncompensated Care / Q000191:economics