Assembly Bill 975 would require private, non-profit hospitals to provide charity care “in an amount equal to at least 8 percent of [their] operating margins” by Jan. 1, 2015. The bill comes as more state legislatures scrutinize the operations of non-profit hospitals to ensure they meet their missions to provide uncompensated care to indigent populations.
The CHA argued the bill could “devastate rural and urban hospitals that are meeting the needs of their communities through locally developed community benefit plans.”
“Many of these facilities are already financially strapped as a result of governmental payment shortfalls and unfunded mandates,” the CHA said in a statement. “There is no need for the state to impose yet another set of excessive regulations and restrictions on not-for-profit hospitals.”
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