"[This book is] the most authoritative assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of recent trends toward the commercialization of health care," says Robert Pear of The New York Times. This major study by the Institute of Medicine examines virtually all aspects of for-profit health care in the United States, including the quality and availability of health care, the cost of medical care, access to financial capital, implications for education and research, and the fiduciary role of the physician. In addition to the report, the book contains 15 papers by experts in the field of for-profit health care covering a broad range of topicsâ€"from trends in the growth of major investor-owned hospital companies to the ethical issues in for-profit health care. "The report makes a lasting contribution to the health policy literature." â€"Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law.

Do the activities performed by nonprofit hospitals that are exempt from paying taxes because of their nonprofit status, truly qualify as charitable activities that provide a broad public benefit & are consistent with exempt purposes? When taken as a percentage of net patient revenues -- the amounts a hospital receives from patients & third-party payers -- the uncompensated-care costs provided by nonprofit & for-profit hospitals were not significantly different, both including & excluding Medi-Cal costs. Benefits provided to the community, which only nonprofit hospitals are required to report, differentiate nonprofit hospitals from for-profit hospitals, but the categories of services & the assoc. econ. value are not consistently reported among nonprofit hospitals. Illus.