American Hospital Association CEO Rick Pollack issued a statement July 26 in response to a recent Wall Street Journal article that indicated nonprofit hospitals lag behind their for-profit counterparts in providing charity care for their communities.
Mr. Pollack asserted that The Wall Street Journal "fails to recognize that charity care is only one part of a hospital's total community benefit."
A report from accounting firm EY indicates that for every dollar invested in non-profit health systems, about $9 of value is delivered back to the community. Furthermore, a June report from the AHA found that tax-exempt hospitals provided more than $110 billion in total benefits to their communities in 2019 alone, the most recent year in which comprehensive data is available.
Mr. Pollack said that hospitals would continue to subsidize many essential services in their communities.
"In total, hospitals of all types have provided nearly $745 billion in uncompensated care to patients since 2000. Our doors are always open, 24/7, regardless of a patient’s ability to pay and health status."