The Catch-22 Of Charity Care

The question of whether tax-exempt non-profit health care organizations provide enough "community benefit" has turned into one of our more popular conversations this year, following my coverage of the latest in "charity care news" last month—see Charity Care In The News Again. How "charity care" is defined is a key issue in this discussion, but OPEN MINDS Circle member Vanessa Lane, the Director, Revenue Cycle Management/Accounts Receivable at Grafton Integrated Health Network, pointed out that there is a “stickier” issue at play—commercial insurance prohibiting any "discount" program to assist consumers. She explained:

I want to . . .