The proportion of total operating expenses spent on charity care between nonprofit and for profit hospitals differs by 0.5 percent, 1.9 percent versus 1.4 percent respectively, according to a study published in the journal Health Affairs.
Although nonprofit hospitals receive yearly tax exemptions with the understanding that charity care will be directed back to the community, the numbers highlighted in the study reflect little difference between the amount of free care dedicated by for-profits and nonprofits, though non-profit hospitals in the U.S. received an estimated $24.6 billion in tax breaks in 2011, as reported by The Washington Post.
"The takeaway is not that we should not be giving tax breaks, but that there should be a little more accountability," Renee Hsia, a lead author of the study and a University of California San Francisco professor told The Washington Post. "These are exemptions that, if we didn't have them, could fund education, water or public utilities."