Nonprofit and For-Profit Hospitals

Describe the differences between nonprofit and for-profit hospitals.

William & Torres provided a table to reflect hospitals ownership, and noted that some hospitals, while owned by one type of entity, may be operating under a contract by another entity, such as a hospital management company (Williams & Torrens, page 185). Some of the largest groups of hospitals in the nation are nonprofit community hospitals (Williams & Torrens, page 185). Nonprofit entities, including hospitals, function under special provisions of corporation law in each state, and under federal and state tax provisions that recognize their community service function (Williams & Torrens, page 185). The nation has approximately 1 million nonprofit entities of various sorts and hospitals have long been a traditional service provider in the nonprofit sector (Williams & Torrens, page 185). Nonprofit entities are generally exempt from most taxes at the federal, state, and local levels including income and property taxes (Williams & Torrens, page 185). These facilities are governed by a community based board that has ultimate authority for running these entities. Sponsorship for a nonprofit can come from various organizations, unlike other hospitals with traditional religious sponsorship (Williams & Torrens, page 185). A small percentage of the nation’s hospitals are operated by for-profit businesses (Williams & Torrens, page 186). For-profit hospitals have owners and issue stock to those owners to reflect their equity position (Williams & Torrens, page 185). For-profit hospitals are not just accountable to the community but must also provide a return on investment to the shareholders; they expect to generate a profit to pay a return to the equity inves...

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... pays for 47

percent of all nursing facility care, and residents and their families pay for one-third. (Williams

& Torrens, page 205). As for as the hospital, Medicare and private insurance are the primary

payers from hospital services, with individuals paying relatively little from their pockets

(Williams & Torrens, page 205).

Critique the current state of long-term care policy in the U.S.

After reviewing the current state of the long-term care policy from the United States, it

appears to be slowly moving toward extinction. Public policy is not likely to provide any over-

arching continuity for long-term care in the near future (Williams & Torrens, page 218). I agree

with the idea of Americans engaging in personal planning. Personal planning will assure

individual that if he or she needs long-term care it will be available.