Hits & Misses – 2009/2/19
Nonprofit hospitals receive an estimated $12.6 billion of annual tax exemptions, on top of their share of the $32 billion in federal, state and local subsidies the hospital industry as a whole receives each year, according to a 2006 report by the Congressional Budget Office. [link]
The IRS found that fewer than one-fifth of the surveyed hospitals accounted for 78% of the aggregate community benefit expenditures. [link]
Proving that there's a silver lining even in the worst of times, Mexico City gives away free Viagra to poor men, age 60 and above. It gets better:
For Valentine's Day, the government sponsored a mass kiss-in, in an attempt to break the world record and raise awareness about domestic violence.
Obesity Update: Cooking books are also supersizing portions.
The study, which examined how classic recipes have changed over the past 70 years, found a nearly 40% increase in calories per serving, about an extra 77 calories for nearly every recipe reviewed.
No hospital should be able to be “nonprofit” unless it is substantially (I would say more than half) involved in charity care.
On Mexico, it’s like people on a sinking ship deciding to party and enjoy their last few monments of life.
On the cookbooks, the unanswered question is: why?
Bret, the study may have the causation backwards. If you have fatter dinner guests, you need to serve bigger portions.
Can you provide more information on this? i have read other websites that are on similar subjects.
Fact on agevare, the US spends about 10 times the amount of money per head of population on health care by comparison to the UK;Fact about a third of US citizens do not have effective health care;Fact agevare life expectancy in the UK is higher than in the US.I have lived in England for 6 years and the US for 7To compare health systems in US and UK is like peaches to apples. The standards, expectations do vary. But, overall, I feel NHS is better than the whole of US health care combined (medicare, medicaid including). NHS is more value for money when compared to US system.Lets not forget, we can do a lot better with NHS and can we use this momentum of debate not just to show our patriotism to NHS but find ways to make it better than trying to sell the idea to Mr Obama? I am bit amused, why no one talks about the US neighbour’s better (better than NHS) health care system in Canada?ClaudiaWebmistress