Uncompensated Care
The total cost of care a hospital provides without receiving payment — charity care plus bad debt, less any subsidies received.
Uncompensated care is the umbrella term for the cost of care a hospital provides without getting paid for it. It has two components:
- Charity care: care provided to patients who, under hospital policy, are not expected to pay (typically based on income relative to federal poverty guidelines)
- Bad debt: care provided to patients who could have paid but didn't
Both are reported at COST (not at gross charges) on Worksheet S-10. Federal and state regulators use uncompensated care figures to allocate DSH payments and to evaluate nonprofit hospitals' community benefit obligations.
Nonprofit hospitals separately report charity care and a broader "community benefit" figure on IRS Form 990 Schedule H — that broader figure includes Medicaid shortfall, subsidized health services, community health improvement, research, and health professional education in addition to charity care.
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