Lown: Nonprofit hospitals' tax savings outpace community benefit
FierceHealthcare
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Summary
The Lown Institute's recent analysis reveals that 80% of nonprofit hospitals invest less in community benefits, including financial assistance, than they save from tax breaks, creating a "fair share deficit" totaling $25.7 billion across 2,425 hospitals. This deficit, highlighting a significant gap between the institutions' tax savings and their contributions to community health, could have addressed 29% of the United States' medical debt. Among the highlighted institutions, New York-Presbyterian, UPMC Presbyterian, and NYU Langone face the largest deficits, with top offending health systems including Kaiser Permanente and Providence. The Lown Institute criticizes these practices and calls for more stringent regulations and accountability to ensure that nonprofit hospitals contribute more significantly to the communities they serve. The critique extends to the allocation methods of community benefits, urging a reevaluation of spending categories and the introduction of minimum spending thresholds to enhance transparency and impact.
