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Comment by s1artibartfast | Hacker News Reader

>It’s a non-profit largely funded by tax payers.

Is it actually government funded, or does it sell services which the government pays for?

I dont know if it is Baader–Meinhof phenomenon, but it seems like I increasingly see funded used to describe revenue for services rendered.

It seems like a bit of a bait and switch, because the word funded often carries come connotation of ownership, obligation, or charity.

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Both. The govt gives them a break on taxes. They also pay the hospital thru Medicare and Medicaid.

I'm not sure the latter holds. That's like saying grocery stores are "government funded" because they take food stamps - or for that matter, that private retirement homes are "government funded" because the retirees get their income from Social Security.

And for that matter, the former definitely doesn't hold, because nearly every entity gets some tax break. Every homeowner is "government funded".

I wouldn't call either of those funding in the sense I described.

Isn't the Medicare payment less than the hospital gets giving the same treatment to somebody with private health insurance?

>>Is it actually government funded,

Maybe indirectly. As a charity they get lots of benefits that allows them to save money.

Not taxing money =/= giving money.

Some of the impacts are identical, but they have other fundamental differences.

I pay less than 100% tax, but I wouldn't say that the government is funding my lifestyle

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