California, seen by many as a policy trendsetter for other states, continues to debate a bill that would require non-profit hospitals and health system to provide a specific amount of charity care to patients, according to a California Healthline report.
In February, two Democratic Assemblymembers — Rob Bonta and Bob Wieckowski — authored Assembly Bill 975. The bill would require private, non-profit hospitals to provide charity care “in an amount equal to at least 8 percent of [their] operating margins” by Jan. 1, 2015. In addition, private, non-profit hospitals would not be able to have operating margins exceeding 10 percent.
California Healthline fielded responses from several California stakeholders on whether the legislation would be a good or bad idea. Reps. Wieckowski and Bonta said they authored the bill because “California taxpayers provide substantial support for our private, not-for-profit hospitals in the form of favorable tax treatment,” according to the report.” The two men also said many of California’s 300 non-profit hospitals fall short of expectations when it comes to charity care, and “those that don’t [meet their social contract] should be held to account.”
Malinda Markowitz, co-president of the California Nurses Association, and other consumers supported the bill, telling California Healthline that “hospital lobbyists should welcome this legislation as a way to restore public confidence that they are being genuinely transparent, accountable and acting in good faith in the delivery of charity care and community benefit.”
However, California Hospital Association President and CEO Duane Dauner denounced the legislation, saying AB 975 would enforce a “guilty until proven” burden for hospitals that have an operating margin of more than 10 percent. “The important point here is that not-for-profit hospitals don’t distribute earnings to shareholders. There are none,” he told California Healthline. “The money is plowed back into charitable activities and community benefit programs.”
Source: beckershospitalreview.com
