return for free or discounted care that they provide to local-income or unassured patients accordin unassureduninsured patients. charity care services that benefit the communities they serve . that is the idea anyway but in far too many cases, hospitals are providing a lot less charity and tightening their rules on financial assistance for patients. hospitals that get big tax breaks. it's not that nonprofit hospital he aren't allowed to turn a profit. they do and they should. especially when they're treating better-off patients who can afford their medical coverage. but nonprofit hospitals are required to reinvest those profits to expand services and upgrade facilities. instead critics say they're reinvesting their gains into higher salaries for administrators and other nonmedical employees. and thus, the motivation for nonprofit hospitals to squeeze more profits out of their patients continues to grow. adding insult to injury, tens of thousands of hospital patients throughout the country who qualify for charity care are still getting billed for treatment and if that isn't painful enough, there is a d