More than half of the nation’s 5,000 hospitals operate as not-for-profit entities. In theory non-profit hospitals get an exemption from income tax, property tax, sales tax and get preferential financing because they provide a public service to the communities in which they operate. I worked for a large non-profit hospital system years ago and a financial analyst did the math and estimated our tax exclusion was worth something like $100 million a year. In return for the huge tax advantage all the hospital had to do was provide between 4% and 5% of net revenue in charity care for low-income patients.
Category: Policy & Legislation
340B Explained
This is priceless:
Thanks to 340B, Richmond Community Hospital can buy a vial of Keytruda, a cancer drug, at the discounted price of $3,444… But the hospital charges the private insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield more than seven times that price — $25,425, according to a price list that hospitals are required to publish. That is nearly $22,000 profit on a single vial.
Wednesday Links
- New book: Why people are the ultimate resource.
- Subsidizing kids: Hungary exempts mothers of four or more children from income taxes for life. (The Economist, gated)
- Why do we need an Advanced Research Projects Agency-Health? Because the National Institutes of Health is too cautious. (NYT, gated)
- Life expectancy in China surpasses the US.
- Biden’s student loan debt forgiveness program is worse than you think.
- The right way to pay tuition for students who need a loan.
Tuesday Links
- Climate anxiety is a mental health problem.
- Biden: the pandemic is over, but not his emergency Covid powers.
- IRS is about to end the Obamacare “family glitch” by re-wring then law. (gated)
- The CDC has lost the public’s confidence. Is the answer to give it more money?
- The 340b program was supposes to support drug therapy for low-oncome patients. Hospitals are using it to rip us off.
- Why don’t men get more vasectomies?