Comments on: Hospitals Dump Cash To Remain “Non-Profit”

By: Phantom Menace

Phantom Menace — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 02:24:08 +0000

The people that are directly involved with patient care and the support staff earn every dollar they make at these hospitals. It’s the senior management and directors that are making a killing and laughing all the way to the bank. They love to create new upper level management positions and to have meetings just for the sake of saying they “have a meeting to go to”. It sounds impressive doesn’t it ? They could easily cut out half of those upper management positions and pay property taxes instead.

By: Jerry Jones

Jerry Jones — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 00:03:50 +0000

Also — with specific regard to tax exempt status of so-called private, “not-for-profit” hospitals…

Check out…

1. This blog article that explains how the IRS has begun to scrutinize these hospitals and requiring them to document the “charity care” that they allegedly provide.

http://blog.communitycatalyst.org/index.php/2011/05/12/does-your-local-hospital-make-the-grade-on-community-benefit-now-there%E2%80%99s-a-way-to-tell/

2. This article, which explains how preliminary data — which is still in the early phases of being collected — suggest many United States hospitals fail to provide much charity care.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20110321/FREE/110329997/short-of-the-mark-a-modern-healthcare-analysis-of-form-990s-shows-some-very-profitable-hospitals-offering-little-subsidized-care#

3. This Idaho Statesman graphic showing what Idaho hospital CEOs earned:

http://media.idahostatesman.com/smedia/2011/05/22/23/topexecs.source.prod_affiliate.36.pdf

Wouldn’t it be horrible to find out that our hospitals don’t provide substantive charity care even though they pay no taxes because of their “charitable” tax-exempt status and our laws on the books that haven’t — until now — forced significant disclosure?

By: Sisyphus

Sisyphus — Fri, 27 May 2011 20:42:10 +0000

Thanks Jerry. I’m a fan of Frontline.

By: Jerry Jones

Jerry Jones — Thu, 26 May 2011 01:21:09 +0000

One more link:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/story/CEO-pay-2010/45634384/1

CEO pay.

Here’s the part of the story that I found interesting:

“This year, because of a new rule, for the first time investors in most publicly traded companies are permitted to have a “say on pay,” which is a non-binding vote on whether they approve of the way companies are paying their top executives. With 200 companies having held meetings where the votes were tallied, shareholders at four companies voted their opposition to the pay strategies, says Mark Borges, principal of executive pay firm Compensia.
The companies where shareholders rejected pay plans include Beazer Homes USA, Jacobs Engineering, Shuffle Master and Hewlett-Packard, based on Borges’ analysis. Borges expects the number of rejected CEO plans to increase dramatically as votes come up in shareholder meetings in April.”

By: Jerry Jones

Jerry Jones — Thu, 26 May 2011 01:08:02 +0000

Check out “Sick Around The World” by reporter T. R. Reid:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworld/countries/

Click on the link near the top right of the page that says “Watch Online.” Each video documentary — by T. R. Reid — profiles the health care systems of the following five capitalist democracies:

– Germany
– Switzerland
– Taiwan
– United Kingdom
– Japan

If you choose to watch, you might be surprised.

The point that reporter T. R. Reid makes is that other capitalist countries have figured out how to make health care far more affordable with better outcomes. Their approaches differ radically. But they all succeed where our nation fails.

By: Cyclops

Cyclops — Thu, 26 May 2011 00:05:53 +0000

So far this year I have had two TESTS. Just TESTS! A CAT scan and a PET scan. (It is the same test basically) Cost?? $11,000.00 I have to wonder how much of that was dedicated to these crazy bonuses?

By: dog

dog — Wed, 25 May 2011 23:05:48 +0000

On my last medical bill for a small surgery, I could easily have paid the doctor out of pocket. It was the hospital bills that were FUBAR! Tons of crap they charge you and throw in the trash.

By: Sisyphus

Sisyphus — Wed, 25 May 2011 20:46:45 +0000

Good piece Dave. Keep digging into it. Don, I don’t want their charity unless its caring for the poor who need health care. Last I checked we’re paying them gobs of money for precisely that. Their current charity work is little more than self aggrandizing marketing getting people like you to write opinions like that. Their land ownership and acquisition alone clearly displays the farce their non-profit status has become.

By: idaholc

idaholc — Wed, 25 May 2011 14:03:47 +0000

According to the Assessor’s office, five parcels in St. Lukes downtown campus alone are have an assessed valuation of $129.3 million.

If these properties were not exempt they would yield an additional $757,698 to Boise public schools, and $2,218,449 total property taxes.

What would be interesting is how much other property owners tax bill would be reduced if all of those hospitals paid property taxes.

By: Cyclops

Cyclops — Wed, 25 May 2011 05:53:59 +0000

Easy answer Robert. Yank their tax exempt status and then let them pay the help whatever they damn well please!