ICYMI: Minnesota’s nonprofit hospitals contributed $6.5 billion in community benefit in 2025, the bulk of which was absorbing medical bills left unpaid by patients, government programs, or private insurers.
The Rochester Post Bulletin reported that the community benefit spending, across more than 120 hospitals and health systems, represents a 5% increase over the 2024 figure, despite a financially challenging health care landscape.
“So many of the hospitals are financially unstable,” MHA CEO Rahul Koranne said. “We are proving that they’re still pouring not just their dollars, but their soul, their heart and their minds into their communities … despite the financially difficult state.”
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Of that $6.5 billion figure, payment shortfalls from Medicare ($1.9 billion) and Medicaid ($1.46 billion) make up the largest chunks. When Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements for a service don’t fully cover the cost of providing that service, hospitals absorb that cost.
Hospitals also spent a combined $342 million on financial assistance, or charity care — federally required programs that partially or fully waive low-income patients’ medical bills. That figure is up 40% over 2024.
Learn more about the impact hospitals make in their communities.
