Hospitals are the central component of Georgia’s vast and complicated health care system. As key health care providers that offer a wide range of services, these hospitals have a unique opportunity to help reduce access disparities for vulnerable populations – particularly those that are low-income, uninsured and underinsured. Hospitals are able to address the barriers to affordable care that confront uninsured, underinsured and low-income consumers by working within their facility, the community and lawmakers to enact policies and create programs that will better the fiscal and physical health of their hospitals and patients. Through these programs, hospitals are able to boost the overall fiscal and physical health of its community.
We recently authored a report titled “Georgia nonprofit hospitals and the vulnerable patient,” which provides an analysis of Georgia nonprofit hospitals and community benefit programs. Read the report here.
