New Jersey hospitals provided more than half a billion dollars in free care to the poor and uninsured in 2013, according to a new report released Monday. In all, the New Jersey Hospital Association said the hospitals in the report provided $2.8 billion in benefits to their communities. The data come from 60 hospitals statewide; the association extrapolated the numbers to create an accounting for the 72 acute care hospitals in New Jersey. The estimated community benefit for the prior year was just under $2.6 billion, the association records show.
