Because non-profit hospitals are obligated to provide charity care, low charity care amounts have raised questions throughout the country as to whether non-profit hospitals should continue to hold their non-profit and tax-exempt statuses. The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer found several statistics on North Carolina hospitals and their charity care:
• Roughly 33 percent of hospitals in the state spent less than 2 percent of their budgets on charity care in 2010.
• Most of the hospitals reporting low charity care figures are small, rural hospitals that are also losing money.
• In 2010, charity care at the three hospitals within the Durham, N.C.-based Duke Health represented 3.3 percent of the health system’s budget. That same year, Duke Health was running an operating margin of 14 percent.
• Roughly 66 percent of uninsured patients interviewed by the two newspapers said they were never informed of a hospital’s charity care policy.
More Articles on Hospital Profit and Charity Care:
Colorado Hospital Charity Care Bill to Advance to Governor
California Pacific Medical Center-San Francisco Deal Raises Cost Concerns
Study: 66% of New York Hospitals Violate Charity Care Requirements
