It’s probably fair for hospitals to be able to count services for low-income patients (Medicaid or uninsured) as “charity care and community benefit,” because that practice brings in less than the cost of treatment. But since 1986, hospitals that care for large numbers of low-income people have already been compensated in other ways. They buy all their pharmaceuticals at a discount, through a federal program. Likewise, Medicare gives them so-called disproportionate share payments, essentially bonuses for treating higher numbers of poor people, who tend to be sicker and less able to pay bills.
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