Sanders' hospital community benefit report 'just plain wrong,' AHA CEO says

Nonprofit hospitals more than earn their tax-exempt status by consistently providing community benefits, and to suggest otherwise is "just plain wrong," American Hospital Association CEO Rick Pollack said Oct. 10 in response to a new report from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

The report from the chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee criticizes "excessive" executive pay and price-gouging patients, among other things. Hospitals have gladly accepted their tax-exempt status but have failed to provide the required community benefits, the report said.

"Today's report is totally off base and does not fully account for the wide range of community benefits that hospitals provide," Mr. Pollack said in response. "This tunnel-visioned 'research' neglects to consider that under the law community benefit is defined by much more than charity care and includes patient financial aid, health education programs and housing assistance, just to name a few."

Tax-exempt hospitals provided $129 billion in benefits to their communities in 2020, Mr. Pollack said, up $20 billion from the previous year. Hospitals not only took on more responsibility during the pandemic in terms of public safety and health, they also increased community benefit, he noted.

 "Let the record show that when we truly count all the ways that tax-exempt hospitals and health systems support communities we find that every time we ask more of them, they step up and deliver," Mr. Pollack concluded. "It’s time we stopped pretending otherwise."

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