Nonprofit Hospital Community Benefit Needs Clarity, GAO Says

The community benefit standard that nonprofit hospitals must meet is too loosely defined by Congress and the Internal Revenue System, the chairman of a House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee said at a Wednesday hearing.

Nonprofit hospitals are exempt from paying most federal, state, and local taxes in exchange for providing free or discounted care and programs to low-income patients and addressing community health needs.

An April report from the Lown Institute, a think tank on health-care equity, said nonprofit hospitals are spending less on charity care than they receive in benefits from their tax-exempt status.

Hospitals have pushed back ...