Evaluating Hospitals' Provision of Community Benefit: An Argument for an Outcome-Based Approach to Nonprofit Hospital Tax Exemption

D.B. Rubin, S.R. Singh and P.D. Jacobson

American Journal of Public Health, 2013, vol. 103, issue 4, 612-616

Abstract: Nonprofit hospitals are exempt from federal income taxation if they pass organizational and operational tests, including satisfying the community-benefit standard. Policymakers, however, have questioned the adequacy of the community benefits that nonprofit hospitals provide in exchange for these exemptions. The Internal Revenue Service recently responded to these concerns by redesigning its tax forms for nonprofit hospitals. The new Form 990 Schedule H requires nonprofit hospitals to provide additional information about their community-benefit activities. This new reporting requirement, however, places an undue focus on input-based community-benefit indicators, in particular expenditures. We argue that expanding the current input-based reporting requirement to include not only monetary inputs but also population health outcomes would achieve greater benefit for society.

Keywords: article; community care; economics; health care policy; human; non profit hospital; non profit organization; outcome assessment; public relations; tax; United States, Community-Institutional Relations; Health Policy; Hospitals, Voluntary; Humans; Organizations, Nonprofit; Outcome Assessment (Health Care); Tax Exemption; Taxes; Uncompensated Care; United States (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2012.301048_4

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2012.301048

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