"Lenny Belmonte also stumbled into another much-obscured but important realm of the health-care business: collections. Hospitals provided $18 billion worth of uncompensated care in 1996, according to the American Hospital Assn. That pumped up the average hospital's collection portfolio from $7.9 million in 1995 to $14.4 million in 1996, according to the American Collectors Assn, a group representing third-party collectors."  MORE >>