Obamacare

[Lamplighter]

Here is the latest (new) issue coming up for Oregonians... and the US.
The headline is a little misleading about the real issue...

IMO, the Illinois law mentioned below seems a very good start.

The Oregonian
Nick Budnick,
11/3/12
Hospital charity care in Oregon sinks as debate over standards grows

In 2009 the recession was in full swing, and
as the number of unemployed and uninsured shot up,
Legacy Health System ratcheted free care to the needy
in the Portland area to a new high.

Legacy wrote off $67 million in area patients' bills last year,
a nearly 25 percent jump since 2009, more than 6 percent of revenue.
That may not have been a smart business move, but "we have a mission" to help others,
says Dave Eager, chief financial officer of the nonprofit.

Other tax-exempt hospitals in the state did not follow suit,
according to newly released state records.
From 2009 to 2011, 31 of Oregon's tax-exempt hospitals cut free care to the poor as a percent of revenue.

The numbers pushed Eager into the growing chorus across the country that says government
should set minimum expectations on not-for-profit hospitals that enjoy lucrative tax breaks
in exchange for community service, including Legacy itself.

<snip>

Oregon has one of the smallest for-profit hospital sectors in the country,
says Jessica Curtis, who tracks charity care for the Massachusetts-based
health watchdog group Community Catalyst.
She called Oregon's declining charity care numbers "curious considering the state of the economy."

In return for caring for people like Casey [a named patient example], Oregon's tax-exempt hospitals
-- both not-for-profit and government-affiliated hospitals like Oregon Health & Science University
-- receive significant benefits:
• money can be borrowed at a discounted rate, a privilege worth millions;
• tax exemptions from state and federal corporate and capital gains taxes, and property taxes collected by counties;
• any contributions to them are tax-deductible, which encourages giving.

Acquisitions by hospitals are a major reason municipal tax bases are "under siege,"
according to the November issue of Governing Magazine.

The Oregon reporting law was one of the nation's earliest.
In Texas, lawmakers required hospitals provide 4 percent
of their budget in charity care and other help for the poor,
and Illinois recently required that charity care exceed property taxes.

However, the federal health reform that kicks in 2014
is expected to make charity care even less common as the number
of uninsured is expected to drop sharply.

But under the new law, hospitals will be asked to submit plans
for how they will improve their community's overall health.