Nonprofit hospitals are generally exempt from local, state and federal taxes. In return, the federal government expects them to provide a significant community benefit, including charity care and financial assistance. While Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare in Memphis, Tennessee, does provide some charity care, a recent investigative report from ProPublica also unearthed a pattern of the organization relentlessly sueing the poor for unpaid medical bills.
Professor emeritus John Colombo, who has testified before Congress about the tax-exempt status of nonprofit hospitals, was quoted in the article.
“If Warren Buffett walks in and needs a heart valve procedure and then stiffs the hospital, then yes, you should sue Warren Buffett,” he said. “I can’t think of a situation in which thousands of your patients would fit that.”
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