Consumers Union Nonprofit Conversions
Corporate Structures Nonprofit Health Inc. Conversions 101
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Basic Corporate Structures in Health Care

cartoonA conversion encompasses a broad range of business transactions. In these transactions, a corporation changes some or all of its assets from nonprofit to for-profit purposes. However, before examining the many forms a conversion can take, it is helpful to discuss the basic structures of health care corporations.

Health care organizations structure themselves in many different ways depending on particular state laws. Many of the nonprofit categories described below are not mutually exclusive. For example, before Blue Cross of California was a for-profit company, it was both a nonprofit health care service plan and a public benefit corporation under California law. Advocates must research state laws to determine the legal corporate structures available to health care organizations that may be converting or contemplating conversion. Following is a list of the most common corporate structures for health care organizations.

Click the chart below to learn more about each corporate structure.

Corporate Structure

Type of Corporation

Nonprofit Health Corporation

  • Public Benefit Corporation

  • Hospital, Health, and Medical Service Corporation

  • Mutual Benefit Corporation

Nonprofit or For-Profit Health Corporation

  • Mutual Insurance Company

For-Profit Health Corporation

  • For-Profit publicly held corporations

  • For profit privately held corporations