Court says hospitals must give charity care
Upholds longtime state law challenged in suit
By: Scott Fallon
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... New Jersey hospitals must continue to provide free treatment to the poor under a ruling issued July 61 [2025] by the sate Supreme Court, striking down arguments that charity care is an unconstitutional "taking of private propriety without just compensation."
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The unanimous decision upholds the state's charity care law, which requires hospitals to treat patients regardless of their ability to pay. Patients who qualify for charity care cannot be billed for treatment.
..... the case was brought to the court by a coalition of more than a dozen hospitals that serve a disproportionate share of low-income patents, including Englewood Hospital, Packack Valley Medical Center in Westwood and St. Mary's General Hospital in Passaic.
..... Although the hospitals receive some taxpayer funds from state government to provide charity care, lawyers for the coalition argued that the subsidies fail "to even cover the basic cost of car."
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In a 46-page decision written by Justice Douglas Fasciale, the court ruled that charity care does not "run afoul" of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which bars the government from seizing private property without fairly compensating the owner.
..... "The heavily regulated nature of the health care industry, the long-standing tradition of hospitals caring for indigent patients, and the existence of tax benefits specifically tied to such care all diminish expectoration that hospitals might be free of charity care obligations," Fasciale wrote.
..... Hospitals are free to challenge their charity compensation through administrative and legislative channels, the court ruled.
..... A lawyer for the hospitals said the ruling was disappointing.
..... "We believe the Court's analysis is flawed in determining whether the charity care program constituents a physical taking and invasion of the hospitals' property and is contrary to the trend of United States Supreme Court decisions in the last decade finding wrongful physical takings occurring in regulated industries and activities," Jim Robertson, a health care attorney, said in a statement.
..... Robertson said his clients are considering whether to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
..... The move comes at a time when demand for charity care is expected to skyrocket in New Jersey.
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With cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable care Act coming over the next several years under the Trump-supported tax and spending bill, hospitals are anticipating that more uninsured patients will come through their emergency department doors seeking care.