Burdens Encountered By the Uninsured in the Search for Hospital Care: Are Tax-Exempt Hospitals Fulfilling Their Charitable Obligations?
Abstract
This article seeks to define the barriers encountered by the medically uninsured when searching for hospital care, and whether tax-exempt hospitals are fulfilling their obligations to provide charity care to the uninsured and indigent. First, the article outlines the problems facing the uninsured by exposing unethical hospital billing practices. Second, this article defines a tax-exempt institution in terms of a hospital, and the benefits and obligations associated with tax-exempt status. And third, this article rates Utah hospitals with an idiographic, nonprobability study in which seven Utah hospitals were asked about their charity and free care programs and policies. The author concludes by providing policy recommendations to better define charity care and regulate tax-exempt institutions to ensure compliance of a “charitable purpose.â€Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
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