Tax-exempt hospitals spent $105 billion on community benefits in 2018, according to a new report from the American Hospital Association.
Nonprofit hospitals are exempt from paying taxes. In return, they provide community benefits such as charity care, financial assistance programs, population health initiatives, underwriting medical research, among other benefits.
The new AHA analysis examined hospital and health systems' group and individual Schedule H tax filings submitted to the Internal Revenue Service for tax year 2018, the most recent data available.
The AHA report found that tax-exempt hospitals spent 13.9 percent of their total annual expense on community benefits. Further about half, 6.4 percent, of that expense involved offering financial assistance to patients and subsidizing underpayments from Medicaid and other government payers.
"Every single day — year in and year out — hospitals and health systems of all sizes, types and locations not only provide critical care but also deliver a wide range of benefits, activities, services and programs daily to meet the varied health needs of those they serve," said AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack. "Today's analysis demonstrates that improving the health of their communities remains at the heart of the mission of America’s hospitals and health systems."