Prognosis: Profits, Series homepage (Five-part series), Charlotte Observer:
- Nonprofit hospitals thrive on profits, By Ames Alexander, Karen Garloch and Joseph Neff, April 21, 2012, Charlotte Observer: “Nonprofit hospitals in the Charlotte region are respected community institutions. They save lives, heal the sick and provide good jobs. At the same time, most of them are stockpiling a fortune. Their profits have risen along with their prices. Top executives are paid millions as their hospitals expand, buy expensive technology and build aggressively. And they benefit each year from a perk worth millions: They pay no income, property or sales taxes. These institutions were created with charitable missions. But many don’t act like nonprofits anymore. In their quest for growth and financial strength, they have contributed to the rising cost of health care, leaving thousands of patients with bills they struggle to pay…”
- Most N.C. hospitals are slim on charity care, By Ames Alexander, Joseph Neff and Karen Garloch, April 22, 2012, Charlotte Observer: “Rachael Shehan has no health insurance and virtually no income. But when serious respiratory problems strike, her hospital has never provided financial help, she said. Instead, the 39-year-old Lenoir resident says, Caldwell Memorial Hospital has sent bill collectors who have hounded her for payment and ruined her credit. Now, she sometimes bursts into tears when medical problems arise. ‘I know the hospital isn’t going to help me with my bills,’says Shehan, who relies on food stamps and the help of friends. Nonprofit hospitals such as Caldwell Memorial are exempt from property, sales and income taxes. In return, they are expected to give back to their communities, largely by providing care to those who can’t afford it. Like Caldwell, most North Carolina hospitals are devoting a fraction of their expenses to help the poor and uninsured, an investigation by the Charlotte Observer and The News & Observer of Raleigh found. In 2010, most of the state’s hospitals spent less than 3 percent of their budgets on charity care – the practice of forgiving all or part of a patient’s bill…”