Whether nonprofit hospitals provide enough community benefit to justify their tax-exempt status is an issue for legislatures and taxpayers. If nonprofit hospitals are maximizing their charitable mission and justifying their tax-exempt status, they will provide the maximum amount of community benefit possible. This paper examines the difference between the amount of taxes waived for nonprofit hospitals in New Hampshire in 2012 and the amount of charity care they provide. We find that the charity care provided by New Hampshire nonprofit hospitals outweighs the amount of taxes waived; however, we also find that over 40% of the nonprofit hospitals are not providing enough charity care according to provisions set in other states and only one at the proposed federal level.
