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ahhhhhhhhyeah t1_je08pob wrote

Reply to comment by ce_confessor in Gainey is set to unveil plans to challenge the tax-exempt status of more than a dozen properties in the city, including UPMC and a Propel School on the North Side by sugarandspice85

People here will bite off their nose to spite their face just to stick it to UPMC because UPMC sucks. But all of these decisions would affect AHN and any other health provider.

If people think health care is expensive, wait until hospitals have to shift costs they would lose from other areas.

Gainey isn’t the first to try this and it won’t go the way he plans because it’s a bad idea

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LostEnroute t1_je0aus3 wrote

Was it a bad idea for Boston? Even Erie gets more from their faux non-profits than PGH.

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dazzleox t1_je0e03o wrote

Good points. Yale does a lot more for New Haven as well. Pottstown hospital is even paying 50% (I think) of a full tax rate as a PILOT as a major benefit to its school district.

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ce_confessor t1_je0b4j2 wrote

I don’t know. I’ll have to look into that. I’m not pretending to have the answer.

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LostEnroute t1_je0f6ld wrote

I didn't reply to you, so not expecting you to have any answer.

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Avocado_Amnesia t1_je0f550 wrote

That's based on the assumption that the money saved on taxes is going to reducing treatment cost, rather than paying out bonuses to executives and building fancy new facilities that don't meet the needs of the people working in them.
I've seen a couple studies over the years that suggest NFP hospitals have costs mostly in-line with those of for profits, but they are losses of absolutely massive tax sources for their cities, leaving local services devoid of huge opportunities they could have otherwise.
And that's not even regarding hospitals that are also the biggest name in insurance in their local areas as well.

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ahhhhhhhhyeah t1_je0h0x4 wrote

This won’t stop the building of new facilities that don’t fit what people need, it won’t make a more equitable health care environment at all. It will just make the expense of running hospitals more stringent. What people also miss here is that UPMC operates hospitals that take people without insurance, which operate on huge losses. Tightening their bottom line is going to mean these are some of the first hospitals to close, and others are likely to follow for a system that was not setup for this kind of tax burden.

Having more hospitals isn’t the best thing but for some rural areas it is absolutely necessary.

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