Nonprofit hospitals dodge excise-tax bullet in Baucus bill

A healthcare overhaul proposed by Sen. Max Baucus does not include an excise-tax measure that had been contemplated just a few months ago for hospitals not offering enough charity care. For months, nonprofit hospitals have feared minimum charity-care requirements after a set of options released in May by the Baucus-led Senate Finance Committee suggested Congress would take the tax route. Instead, the Baucus bill adds four relatively benign requirements of hospitals, many of which have already adopted most of the practices, according to the Wall Street Journal Health Blog.