WASHINGTON, D.C. – Despite being tax-exempt, nonprofit hospitals across the country are making big money at the expense of their patients. The South Carolina Hospital Scorecard was created based on recent findings from the Lown Institute, Kaiser Health News, and other organizations and publications about troubling practices at hospitals in South Carolina. These practices are at odds with what the public expects from charitable organizations, especially since South Carolina nonprofit hospitals collectively receive hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks each year.

In response to these troubling findings, Consumers for Quality Care (CQC) released the following statement:

Nonprofit hospitals are granted tax-exempt status with the expectation that they will offer health care to patients without saddling them with medical debt. Unfortunately, South Carolina nonprofit hospitals are failing to uphold their obligations as charitable entities, prioritizing profits over the welfare of the patients they are meant to serve. Nikki Haley and Tim Scott are both running for election to the highest office in our nation, and yet, nonprofit hospitals in their home state of South Carolina are too often falling short. South Carolinians and Americans across the country deserve protection from the predatory practices employed by the institutions they rely on in times of need.