Charity care spending at Mayo Clinic is on the lower end compared to other nonprofit hospitals, the Post-Bulletin reported.
The Rochester-Minn.- based clinic spent .34 percent of its annual expenses on charity care in 2021. Nonprofit hospitals averaged spending 2.3 percent of their annual expenses providing charity care in 2021.
The Post-Bulletin reported that none of the hospitals in the top 10 U.S. News and World Report rankings spent more than the national average in charity care. Mayo Clinic was ranked ninth among these hospitals in charity care spending, with Stanford Hospital ranked slightly below.
Ge Bai, PhD, an accounting and health policy professor who researches charity care at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, told the Post Bulletin nonprofit hospitals are often not providing enough charity care to justify their tax-exempt status.
“Taxpayers are putting their faith in nonprofit hospitals and subsidizing them with the expectation that they’re benefiting the community and helping vulnerable patients avoid medical debt,” Dr. Bai told the newspaper.
Justin Furst, a Mayo Clinic spokesperson, told the newspaper that charity care is just one of the ways the clinic serves the community, with the hospital contributing millions to unpaid portions of Medicaid and indigent care, donating to nonprofits and spending to advance health equity initiatives.
Read the full report here.