Human Rights Watch Says US Nonprofit Hospitals Are Part of Human Rights Problem
So here is something really interesting. Human Rights Watch issued a 62 page report last week concluding that the U.S. health care system comprises one big human rights violation. Hyperbole? Maybe, or maybe not. Anyway it looks to be a slow week in Civil Society, so I’ll read the report and post some of the interesting assertions, along with American Hospital Association’s response later this week. But look, health care ought to be a right. As long as it is dispensed under a capitalist market, some people will go without. Those two things can’t be denied. Here are excerpts from HRW’s press release:
(Washington, DC) – The United States government’s failure to adequately regulate private nonprofit hospitals and to provide quality healthcare alternatives undermines access to health care, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
The 62-page report, “In Sheep’s Clothing: United States’ Poorly Regulated Nonprofit Hospitals Undermine Health Care Access” describes how the US government’s lack of guidance and oversight allows privately operated tax-exempt hospitals to spend far less on making healthcare services accessible for people without the means to pay than the massive public subsidies they receive. In 2020, for example, nonprofit hospitals collectively received about $28 billion in tax benefits but only spent about $16 billion on free or reduced-price “charity care,” according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
. . .
Human Rights Watch found that the US model of subsidizing privately operated hospitals with tax exemptions to increase the accessibility of hospital care for uninsured and underinsured patients is poorly regulated, allows for abusive medical billing and debt collection practices, and undermines human rights, including the right to health and the right to social security.
Privately operated nonprofit hospitals account for nearly 60 percent of the more than 5,000 community hospitals across the US. Each year, private nonprofit hospitals receive public subsidies collectively worth tens of billions of dollars, largely in the form of tax exemptions, in exchange for providing “community benefits,” such as free or reduced-price health care for uninsured and underinsured patients.
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The US heavily relies on this “charity care” by nonprofit hospitals to provide care for people who cannot pay for treatment. But federal authorities’ lack of guidance and oversight gives these hospitals wide discretion over how much they spend on making care accessible for people who cannot pay, who qualifies for this assistance, and how far they will go to collect debts from patients unable to pay their bills.
Because of inadequate regulation, some nonprofit hospitals engage in exploitative medical billing and debt collection practices, including through lawsuits and selling debt to third-party debt collectors.
darryll k. jones