An analysis by the North Carolina State Health Plan and Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy found that the majority of North Carolina hospitals did not lose money on Medicare — they profited. This raises serious concerns over hospitals’ commitment to their patients and their charitable mission.
State Treasurer Dale R. Folwell, CPA, invited researchers from the North Carolina State Health Plan and Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy to analyze hospitals’ Internal Revenue Service 990 tax filings, and community benefit reports, and hospitals’ self-reported Medicare Cost Reports, which were drawn from the National Academy for State Health Policy’s Hospital Cost Tool. The tax filings and Medicare cost reports use different methodologies that result in wildly different loss calculations. The report was then peer reviewed by the University of Southern California’s Sol Price School of Public Policy.
They found on average, North Carolina hospitals charge privately insured individuals 280% of Medicare, which forces patients and employers to pay thousands of dollars more for medical care. North Carolina was in the top 10 states with the highest average hospital Medicare profit margins for five years, according to Medicare Cost Report data.
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