ATLANTA --- A side skirmish in the battle for health care is breaking out because of one legislator's suspicions that some nonprofit hospitals are more concerned about fat executive paychecks than treating the poor.

One outcome could be stripping some hospitals of their tax exemptions.

Rep. John Lunsford, R-McDonough, points to St. Francis Hospital in Columbus, which reported in 2005 that its executive compensation was close to what it spent on indigent care.

Reports that Grady Hospital's interim chief executive has a contract for $1.2 million for working less than a year helps fan the embers Mr. Lunsford expects to burst into flames next month.

"We have created an industry of liars and thieves, and we are rewarding the people who are best at it," he said.

Such comments might get a welcome reception within the General Assembly, where scars remain over the massive lobbying campaign launched during the past two sessions over letting the for-profit Cancer Treatment Centers of America build a hospital in Atlanta. The law was changed, but not before many lawmakers felt besieged by hospital lobbyists.

Mr. Lunsford leads a committee that studies indigent care, a fallback from his original plan to push legislation that would have required nonprofit hospitals to devote 6 percent of revenue to treating the poor or to donate the difference to the state's Indigent Care Trust Fund. He said the outcry from hospital executives convinced House leaders that a study was a prudent first step.

For the Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals, which represents 85 nonprofit facilities, the committee has sparked concern.

A four-page report states it's impossible for policymakers to know the true cost of medical services because some costs are shifted from uninsured to insured patients. It notes most financial reports from hospitals aren't audited, giving some hospitals an incentive to distort claims and costs to give the appearance of treating more charity patients.

"I guess I'm shocked when I read it," said Monty Veazey, the president of the alliance. "... There's a lot of misinformation in that. When I read it, it looks like the committee has already met."

Reach Walter Jones at (404) 589-8424 or walter.jones@morris.com