Community Benefit
A New York hospital volunteer team is heading to Puerto Rico to treat patients while Sutter Health donates to wildfire relief after closing hospital.
Of the $67.4 billion in community benefits, $34.7 billion was comprised of financial assistance, unreimbursed Medicaid, and other unreimbursed costs.
California healthcare giant made identical pledge to International Medical Corps to help Mexico's earthquake recovery.
The large facility replicates a hospital in order to give practical training to medical students.
The money is going to programs to improve health through telemedicine, at home care, portable technology, transportation and drug and other screenings.
Rural populations suffer from numerous health disparities and poorer outcomes than those in urban settings, putting pressure on hospitals.
There have been few payment reform proposals that get at the heart of the problem, the authors said.
In some cases, insurers interrupt treatments that are already underway. In others, they deny it at the outset.
As a result, bridging the health gap between certain groups hasn't been as effective as it could be, authors said.
The study found that receiving federal housing assistance increased people's likelihood of having health insurance and access to regular care