Question

What has the Hill Burton Act achieved to date? Is it still relevant or needed?

Answer 1

Hill Burton Act, also termed as Hospital Survey and Construction Act, is U.S. federal law which was approved in 1946 by the Congress. The main motive of the Hill-Burton Act was to provide the nursing homes, hospitals, and other health facilities loans and grants for the modernization and construction. In return, they gave their consent on providing a reasonable volume of services for those who cannot afford to pay and making their services available for people residing in the facility’s area. By 1975 the act had been responsible for construction of approximately one-third of hospitals in America. In 1997 the program stopped providing funds however nearly 140 health care facilities countrywide are still obligated on providing the reduced-cost or free care services. In uncompensated services approximately more than $6 billion have been given for the eligible patients through the act since 1980.

Today's scenario is entirely different. Over the time structure of the hospital industry has changed significantly. The total count of hospitals, ownership composition and their capacity has increased. However the act introduced many ideas in financing of health care that are still in use today. Moreover in the 20th century it ranked right up there among the major vital pieces of health legislation; thus in my opinion it is still relevant and needed