Requiring not-for-profit hospitals to provide more charity care, as increasingly demanded by lawmakers and state attorneys general, "could cripple hospitals financially, would would not provide the necessary comprehensive health care, and would still leave us with the same root problem: an unacceptable number of uninsured people," wrote HFMA President and CEO Richard L. Clarke, DHA, FHFMA, in a letter this week to the editor of The New York Times. On Sunday, the Times published an article on efforts by Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Bill Thomas (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, to set clearer standards for the community services expected from not-for-profit hospitals. Attorneys general in Illinois, Kansas, and Minnesota also have begun investigating hospital billing and collection practices, “excessive” compensation paid to hospital executives, and whether the amount of free care not-for-profits provide justifies their tax-exempt status.
Clarke suggested that a better way to approach the problem of the uninsured would use the model the Bush Administration has employed to encourage adoption of electronic health records: "set an ambitious national goal with a deadline, appoint a senior official who is very competent and respected, identify the barriers, and encourage public/private partnerships to address them."
Learn more from HFMA's conference "Serving the Uninsured: Managing Your Mission and Margin."
Updated March 23, 2006
