Calif. Bill Aims to Require Hospitals to Provide Charity Care
April 25, 2014 | Read Time: 1 minute
A new bill proposes to require nonprofit hospitals in California to provide charity care to keep their tax-exempt status, reports the Sacramento Business Journal.
Sacramento Assemblyman Richard Pan has introduced a bill that will require nonprofit hospitals to provide annual charity care that would equal 5 percent of the hospital’s net revenue. Current law requires every California hospital to have detailed charity care and discount-payment policies, but no uniform definition is in place to measure community benefits, including charity care.
Nonprofit California hospitals provided $1.4-billion in charity while receiving almost $3.3-billion in government subsidies and other benefits in 2010, according to Mr. Pan’s office. The California Hospital Association, an opponent of the bill, estimates state hospitals provide $13-billion annually.
