Hospital Community Benefits after the ACA: State Law Changes and Promotion of Community Health

Hospital community benefit policy is evolving differently by state. Since passage of the ACA in 2010 and subsequent rulemaking, state community benefit policy has increasingly moved beyond a focus on financial assistance policies to pursuing strategies that address the social determinants of health and promote community health. In this issue brief, Hilltop’s Hospital Community Benefit Program examines state-level community benefit oversight by studying specific changes to community benefit statutes, regulations, and policies in 5 select states – Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and New York. The Hilltop Institute also has released an update of its interactive map detailing each state’s community benefit laws.