A Minnesota Star Tribune-KFF Health News investigation found that Minnesota’s hospitals are among the least charitable in the nation, providing substantially less financial aid as a percentage of their operating budgets compared to hospitals in almost every other state, including Illinois, Iowa, Nevada, and Texas.
Nationally, hospitals spend an average of about 2.4% of their operating budgets on charity care. Minnesota hospitals spend about one-third of that, on average. Of Minnesota’s 123 general hospitals, 62 devoted less than 0.5% of their operating budgets to charity care from 2020 through 2024. Minnesota hospitals collectively write off about $200 million annually as bad debt after unsuccessful collection efforts, while devoting about $163 million annually to charity care. In 2024, hospitals collectively posted $2.4 billion in net income.
Patients seeking assistance face significant barriers, including inconsistent eligibility standards that vary widely across the state. The investigation found 11 different income thresholds for free care, ranging from about $15,000 to almost $48,000 annually for individuals. Many hospitals require extensive documentation, including bank statements, retirement accounts, property valuations, and vehicle details. Hendricks Community Hospital requests 53 questions about applicants’ finances.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and state lawmakers have called for standardized eligibility criteria and simplified applications, similar to systems already in place in New York and Maryland. Some hospitals, including Sanford Health, use automatic eligibility screening software that qualifies patients without requiring applications. After state investigation, Mayo Clinic’s charity care spending nearly doubled to 1.5% of operating expenses in 2024.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://kffhealthnews.org/health-care-costs/medical-debt-uninsured-minnesota-hospitals-among-least-charitable/