NJ Hospitals Deliver $1 Billion in Charity Care

The state\’s annual report of \”documented charity care\” shows that charity care services increased statewide by 2.6 percent ( $26 million) in 2013 to a total of $1.02 billion. This increase expands on a six-year growth trend totaling $48.8 million, or 5 percent, in documented charity care.

The state\’s report ( http://www.state.nj.us/health/charitycare/documents/cc_report2013.pdf) measures hospitals\’ charity care services at the rates that the Medicaid program would have paid hospitals for the same services. However, those rates cover just 70 percent of the true costs of the care. Adjusting for those low Medicaid rates, the actual value of statewide charity care services exceeds $1.3 billion.