Bill Would Require Nassau County, N.Y., Hospitals To Report Amount of Uncompensated Care

Nassau County, N.Y., lawmakers on Dec. 9 unveiled a measure that would authorize the county Department of Health to require all hospitals in the county to report to the department the amount of charity care they provide, Long Island Newsday reports. The bill calls on hospitals to report how many patients received uncompensated care, how many "were refused," how many were sent to other facilities and to which facilities they were referred. County Legislature Presiding Officer Judy Jacobs (D) said, "[W]e want to make sure hospitals are living up to their mission as required by the federal government." Some hospitals in the county said they do not oppose the measure. "We have no problem with the law. This is something we report anyway (to the state and federal governments)," Jeffrey Kraut, senior vice president of planning at North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, which spends $87 million on charity care, said. The proposed law could help "ease the financial drain" at Nassau University Medical Center, which provided $67 million in charity care in 2001. The county provides about $19 million per year in aid to NUMC. County legislator Roger Corbin (D), chair of the Legislature's health committee, said, "If area hospitals would buy into this, it would take the pressure of NUMC" (Young, Long Island Newsday, 12/10).