Health Care Bill Cracks Down on Abuses by Charitable Hospitals

March 25, 2010 — -- A little-known effect of the newly-signed health care bill will be sharp new guidelines to prevent so-called "charitable" non-profit hospitals from taking advantage of the people they are supposed to help. Non-profit hospitals have been under fire for years over tactics such as allegedly price-gouging the poor and using aggressive collection tactics to collect debts.

Non-profit hospitals receive a special tax exemption in return for providing community service and charitable care. However, critics say some charitable hospitals rake in millions of dollars a year while providing very low levels of assistance to the poor and uninsured. Because the uninsured don't have the government or large insurance companies to negotiate payment rates on their behalf, patients often have to pay the full "sticker price" for medical services.