Non-Profit Hospital Deception

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Ivermectin - Still Doesn’t Cure COVID

Ivermectin is used for parasite treatment in large mammals. During the Trump disaster years he proposed it as a cure for COVID-19. I can’t believe any one is still looking at it to treat COVID but here is a JAMA article published yesterday. It has been shown ineffective in the past. This study increased the dosage to see if that had an effect. NOPE.

Just get the new COVID vaccine, A flu shot and if recommend for you and RSV shot.

Health Insurance Premium Increases

Annual family premiums for employer-sponsored coverage have increased by 7 percent in 2024, reaching an average of $25,572, with workers contributing $6,296 toward the cost, according to KFF’s annual Employer Health Benefits Survey.

It’s the second year in a row that family premiums have jumped by 7 percent. However, KFF noted that over the past five years, those increases have mostly stayed in step with overall inflation and wage growth. Deductibles for single coverage held steady at $1,787 — about the same as last year.

The survey also asked about the services covered by large employers with at least 200 workers. About 8 percent their health plans do not cover legally provided abortions under any circumstances, while 18 percent limit coverage to cases such as rape, incest, or when the life or health of the pregnant enrollee is at risk.

Texas Abortion Ban Consequences

Texas’ new abortion laws are stressing the state’s already beleaguered OB-GYN workforce, and threatening the pipeline of new doctors that would help provide relief, a new survey shows.

More than 70% of practicing OB-GYNs in Texas feel the near-total ban has negatively impacted their work, prohibiting them from providing high quality, evidence-based care for their patients, according to survey results released Tuesday.

One in five have considered leaving Texas, and 13% are planning to retire early as a result of the new restrictions. Meanwhile, a majority of OB-GYN medical residents say they’re considering the new abortion laws when deciding whether to stay in Texas after their training concludes.

In the summer of 2022, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Texas made it a crime punishable with up to life in prison to perform an abortion. There is a narrow exception to save the life of the pregnant patient, but dozens of women have come forward in the last two years, saying they were denied medically necessary care because of the law.

Manatt Health, a health care consulting firm, surveyed all Texas-based members of the professional association American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and received responses from 450 practicing doctors and 47 medical residents.

Almost one-third of OB-GYNs in Texas do not have a clear understanding of the law and how it relates to their medical practice, and 60% are fearful of legal repercussions.

This tactic has repeated itself over the past 120 years. People demanding that abortion be made difficult to obtain or illegal because not enough babies of the right sort are being born. Right sort is usually white and Protestant.

The answer is to keep annoying federal elected representatives until they pass the Women’s Health Protection Act restoring the right to an abortion nationwide.

ACTION

Let’s annoy our U.S. representatives and Senators again and ask that they move the Women’s Health Protection Act forward.

Here is a link, https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials, to contact them. Or use RESISTBOT via [Apple Messages / WHATSAPP / MESSENGER] or by texting SIGN PLEGRF to 50409 on your cell phone to send this message.

“I am your constituent and I am tired of hearing about women being abused and disrespected and denied the medical reproductive care they deserve. In a new survey of OB-GYNs in Texas 60% said they were afraid to perform an abortion even if the woman’s life is in jeopardy.

ENOUGH CRUELTY - I don’t care how you do it, discharge petition or whatever, get the Women’s Health Protection Act to a vote to restore the right to an abortion. Then implement legislation so that the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act has supremacy over state shield laws so that when a pregnant person presents at the emergency department and needs an abortion she can get one.” PS Here is a link to that survey in Texas I mentioned, https://www.texastribune.org/2024/10/08/Texas-obstetrics-gynecology-abortion-survey/.

Religious Hospital Risk

I have been reviewing Catholic Health Associations tax return. Along the way, I decided to see what Catholic hospitals really do and how they perform. We will have several articles covering this.

Catholic hospitals’ framework for care provision is based on a single document that was developed and is regularly updated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishop’s Committee on Doctrine. The document, the “Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services” (ERDs), assures Catholic healthcare providers the right of refusal to “provide or permit” any medical procedures “judged morally wrong by the teaching authority of the Church.” 

The directives state that “Catholic health institutions may not promote or condone contraceptive practices,” that “direct sterilization” (such as a hysterectomy) is prohibited, and that abortion “is never permitted,” including during “the interval between conception and implantation of the embryo.” (Valerie Wexler)

Let me point out here that this is medically incorrect. A person is not pregnant until the fertilized egg implants. That can take several days. That’s why the morning after pill is contraception not abortion.

So abortion, contraception and anything having to do with Trans issues - forget it. PS if you are in a Death with Dignity State - forget that too. You can suffer - no dignity there.

The Catholic hospitals make a lot of money. Much of it from Medicare and Medicaid. There has long been an issue with charity care and non profit hospitals. A little history first. Originally, about 120 years ago, in the US were pretty good about charity care. So making them tax exempt made sense at the federal and state levels. They could take in donations and not have to pay tax allegedly increasing the amount of money available to help those in need. Sounds good right?

Non-profit doesn’t necessarily mean pro-poor patient. Non-profit hospitals may provide less care to the poor than their for-profit counterparts. They may charge poor, uninsured patients more for the same services than they charge insured patients. They sometimes give their executives gold-plated compensation packages and generous perks such as country club memberships. All of this calls into question whether non-profit hospitals deserve the billions of dollars in tax breaks they receive from federal, state, and local governments. (CRFB)²⁰ 

Well, non profit hospitals spend about 2.3% of revenue on charity care for the poor. For profit hospitals spend about 3.6%. But wait, there’s more. The non profit hospitals tax exempt status is worth about 4.3% of their revenue. They make way more money being tax exempt and offering less care for the poor. (CRFB)

There was quite a clamor about this lack visibility into the way that non profit hospitals serve the public interest because the IRS not most states require a minimum amount spent on the community or the poor, just some money or effort. It could be classes, educational billboards, having classes for doctors or other medical professionals etc. Moreover non profit hospitals cost the US government about $26 billion per year in lost revenue, not to mention what the states lose when they grant tax exemption. Catholic Health Associations (CHA) decided its members were at risk and acted to protect them with deception masquerading as transparency.

CHA wanted to make sure that this discussion went away so they helped write Schedule H which Senator Chuck Grassley got through Congress and into the IRS code in 2009. The Schedule H worksheet that all 501(c)(3) tax-exempt hospitals are required to complete and submit with their annual tax Form 990. Schedule H is supposed to capture community benefit spending and information on compliance with the federal requirements for a hospital to have policies for granting financial assistance/charity care and the process for collecting unpaid bills. It lists specific topics where hospitals can claim they are serving the public.

One of those areas of benefit is a hoax. It is the difference between what Medicaid reimbursed the hospital and what the hospital would have charged at list price. This is akin to the fake high prices you see on late night infomercials followed by a giant discount - it seems like your saving a bunch but the savings were never really there since the original price was fake.

Same thing. I am writing off the difference between my incredibly high list price at my hospital compared to what Medicaid pays and that is my community benefit.

Anyway, CHA was instrumental in this deception and they are proud of it. You can read about how proud they are in their own documentation.

I want to point out that this topic was also the subject of a doctoral dissertation at the University of Chicago. The title was “UNDERSTANDING NONPROFIT HOSPITAL COMMUNITY BENEFITS: A MIXED METHODS APPROACH” by H. MacDougall.

We need reform here that makes sense. Non profit religious hospitals discriminate against women and others, they refuse to treat many in dire need on ethical grounds and they make a fortune doing it.

Let’s put this under the noses of those who are supposed to represent us.

P.S. Regarding the CHA tax return. It is a lobbying organization. The receive around $23 million/year in dues, $25,000 in donations, have about $60 million in assets and compensate their executives well. The head of the Association gets about $1.3 million. They spend yearly about what they take in and give the Catholic Church about $13 million yearly.

Catholic Hospitals pay a lot each year to protect themselves from government oversight.

BONUS ACTION

Here is a link, https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials, to contact our member of Congress and Senators. Or use RESISTBOT via [Apple Messages / WHATSAPP / MESSENGER] or by texting SIGN PIAOKR to 50409 on your cell phone to send this message.

“I am your constituent and I want you to know that religious hospitals, Catholic ones in particular, are skating by with tax exemptions from the federal and state governments and doing harm in the community. The harm comes from not helping women who need abortions or contraception. Forcing women who want tubal ligation after a c-section to risk a second operation elsewhere instead of performing it during the c-section.

Additionally, on they make 4.3% of revenue from tax exemption while providing charity care of about 2.3%.

To make matters worse, the Catholic Health Associations, a lobbying arm for Catolic Hospitals, helped write Schedule H if IRS form 990 for tax exempt organizations to detail community benefit. They are allowed to count as a benefit the difference between Medicaid reimbursement and “list price” for services, which can be inflated so the benefit looks enormous, but no expense was actually made.

Look, there are a lot of things to fix here, but one of them is the IRS code that has no minimum community benefit. Washington State has implemented a law that forces hospitals to offer real assistance to anyone whose income is below a certain threshold. How about starting with that in federal law.”

RESOURCES

Find My Elected Officials

Contact State and Federal Representatives - phone and email

• https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials

Healthcare Advocacy (Us) Website

Our Newsletter resources including reproductive healthcare - Healthcare Advocacy Reading List

Important Healthcare Resources

League of Women Voters Healthcare Reform Toolkit

Organizations to Contact

National Nurses United Medicare4All

Physicians for a National Health Program

One Payer States

Healthcare Now

Reproductive Health

NARAL - Pro Choice America

Charley. chatbot abortion resource - make sure to use a secure incognito browser if you live in a state that has banned abortion

Planned Parenthood

Miscarriage and Abortion Hotline has references about where to procure abortion medications. They also assist women in the process of self managed abortion or miscarriage by phone or text and will respond in an hour. Details and hours of operation at their website.

United State of Women Reproductive health page (bottom of the page) has important resources such as medical support, access to Telehealth, prescriptions by mail, and legal support references.

Practice careful communications - The Digital Defense Fund has a number of tips to keep texts, calls, and internet use private. Here is their site.

If you need financial help with an abortion try abortionfunds.org

Claims Denials and Appeals & What to Do

Appeal a Healthcare Decision

Appeal/Negotiate a Hospital Bill

Disinformation Management

Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency

Library of Advice

Specific Advice

Save Democracy

Chop Wood, Carry Water by Jessica Cravens

RESISTBOT

Link to the RESISTBOT site to learn more

Link to Chop Wood, Carry Water RESISTBOT write up

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