What’s up with hospital finances?
How are hospital finances doing? The short answer is, it depends on the type of hospital... More
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LISTEN: Hospitals expanding across central Ohio, around the country
Every major hospital in central Ohio is expanding, as some are building bigger facilities and some are including more in-patient beds. That’s also true for the rest of the state and across the U.S. What’s driving this construction boom and who will fill all the beds and pick up the tab?
Guests:
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U.S. Rep. Summer Lee Blasts UPMC Over Charitable Donations
"We already knew UPMC was ripping us off, exploiting our hospital workers to the point of a staffing crisis that puts our loved ones’ lives at risk, and leaving our most marginalized communities behind without access to care," Lee, a Pittsburgh Democrat, said in a statement. "But the fact that we now know that UPMC is cheating our community out of $246 million on the backs of taxpayers is shameful beyond reprieve." More
Report: Nonprofit hospitals not paying their ‘fair share’ to the community
“There needs to be a paradigm shift,” Saini said. “What we need from hospitals in the 21st century is different from how we used to do things. Our goal with this is to ask a series of questions, ask everybody … to examine the question: how we should be doing this? Because the way we’re doing it, is not really meeting the needs of communities.” More
Study: 2 metro Atlanta hospitals listed among most charitable in the U.S.
“We’re starting to see policymakers and communities hold hospitals accountable for their social responsibility,” said Dr. Vikas Saini, president of the Lown Institute, said during a webinar Tuesday about the report. “For example, state and local officials in Atlanta and the Georgia NAACP recently filed a federal complaint against Wellstar Health System for closing two hospitals known for serving the Black community while planning to open a new hospital in a whiter and wealthier area.” More
Report: Nonprofit hospitals make billions more in tax breaks than they reinvest into communities
"Americans desperately need hospitals to use their billions in tax breaks as intended: to promote health while relieving the problems of medical debt and access to care," said Dr. Vikas Saini, president of the Lown Institute. "These are charitable organizations and they should do a better job at prioritizing social responsibility over profitability." More
Are Nonprofit Hospitals Really Giving Back More Than They Get?
"The paradigm we've been operating in for the last 30, 40, 50 years is kind of broken, and I don't think you have to ask too many doctors or nurses before you get a lot of consensus on that point," Saini told MedPage Today. "We're asking people to start thinking, 'What could this look like that would be different, that's truly beneficial to the community?'" More
25 hospitals where charity care exceeds tax breaks
Lown Institute, a nonpartisan healthcare think tank, released a new report April 11 examining the finances of 1,773 nonprofit hospitals in the U.S. The report — which does not include large health systems like Renton, Wash.-based Providence; Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente; Somerville, Mass.-based Mass General Brigham; Cleveland Clinic; and Detroit-based Henry Ford — found that some hospitals fell short on and others exceeded expected investments in their communities. More
Most Nonprofit Hospitals Skimp on Care for Poor, Report Says
“The major disconnect between the real health needs of communities and how the money flows is the fundamental problem,” said Vikas Saini, M.D., president of the Lown Institute. “And the nonprofit tax exemption is a lens on that problem.” More
Lown Institute: Even after community investment, nonprofit hospitals’ tax savings enough to rescue ‘every rural hospital at risk of closure’
Lown found that 77% of the reviewed hospitals spent less on community investments and charity care than the estimated value of their tax breaks. The group wrote that many facilities that had the largest deficit “also received millions in COVID-19 relief funding and ended the year with high net incomes.” More
WATCH: Which hospitals are spending their fair share on communities?
Nonprofit hospitals receive substantial tax breaks worth tens of billions each year. But how many hospitals actually give back to communities as much as they receive in tax benefits? More
PRESS RELEASE: U.S. nonprofit hospitals receive billions more in tax breaks than they invest in their communities
A new report examining the finances of 1,763 nonprofit hospitals in the United States finds that more than three-quarters fall short on expected investments in their communities. More
Trading your home for your health: Medicaid estate recovery
When your choice is your health or your home, which do you pick? More
Meet Samantha Goveia, Lown’s newest public health intern
Samantha Goveia is a current Master of Public Health candidate at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice and the Lown Institute’s newest public health intern. We asked Samantha to share with us her journey to public health. This is her story. More
Opinion: It’s time to hold nonprofit hospitals in NC accountable
Recently, egregious, profit-seeking behaviors of nonprofit hospitals have been spotlighted in investigations and reports by The New York Times, Axios, the documentary film inHospitable, issue advocacy organizations such as Innovation for Justice, the Lown Institute and many others. More
Are Hospitals Driving Medical Debt?
Ten percent of Americans owe medical debt. According to a new report, much of that debt is owed to hospitals. What does this tell us about billing practices, financial assistance, and the balance between patients and profits in our current hospital systems? More
Wellstar held accountable for closing racially inclusive hospitals
The nonprofit health system recently closed its most inclusive hospitals. Now, policymakers and advocates are requesting a federal investigation... More
The slippery slope of the mifepristone and the FDA
An ongoing lawsuit focusing on the FDA's approval of the abortion pill mifepristone could open the door to drug regulatory chaos. More
“Eye-popping” Exec Salaries a Catalyst for Tower Health’s Local Hospitals Losing Their Tax Exemptions
Tower Health’s trio of Chester County hospitals — Phoenixville, Brandywine, and Jennersville — lost their tax-exempt status due to the excessive salaries of the company’s executives, writes Judith Garber for the Lown Institute. The Pennsylvania appellate court recently denied property tax exemptions for these hospitals. Jennersville Hospital has already been sold to another system, while Brandywine Hospital closed in January 2022. More
Why are screening colonoscopy recommendations different across countries?
Lown Institute experts explore why routine colonoscopy is recommended in the US but not in other countries. More