Consumers for Quality Care Nonprofit Hospital Scorecards assign #HospitalFail rating to all 50 states and the District of Columbia

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Consumers for Quality Care (CQC) released Nonprofit Hospital Scorecards for all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. CQC’s disappointing finding: Nonprofit hospitals in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., earn a #HospitalFail, indicating that too many nonprofit hospitals across the country are engaged in practices that put profits over patients.

Every year, America’s nonprofit hospitals reap hundreds of millions, and in some cases billions, of dollars in tax breaks, due to their status as charitable organizations. Often, however, these same hospitals overcharge their patients while also hiding important pricing information from them. They also devote too few resources to charity care and other community benefits. Together, these practices leave many patients mired in debt, stuck with medical bills they can’t afford to pay.

CQC’s scorecards are meant to highlight how hospitals, especially nonprofit hospitals, are focusing on profits over their patients’ need for high-quality, reasonably priced health care. We know that high health care costs are hurting Americans financially and limiting their access to care. Hospitals are driving this problem by saddling low-income patients, who should qualify for free or reduced care, with bills they never should have received. Hospitals are using aggressive and predatory collection practices, hounding vulnerable patients who are unable to pay. And then there’s the continued lack of transparency about what patients are expected to pay for hospital services. It’s no surprise that more Americans than ever before, even those with health insurance, are carrying medical debt today.

To create the scorecards, Consumers for Quality Care looks to reporting by respected and credible researchers, news outlets, and patient-advocacy organizations. The story these reports and news articles tell us is that nonprofit hospitals are acting more like businesses than charitable organizations, and patients are worse off for it.

“Hospitals are expected to serve the health needs of all, whether rich or poor or somewhere in between. Unfortunately, hospitals across the country are prioritizing their profit margins over the well-being of those they are here to serve. This is not a state or local problem. It’s a national problem unfolding in local communities and every single state across our country,” said the Honorable Donna Christensen, CQC board member, physician, and former Member of Congress. “It is time for the federal government – Congress and federal agencies – to hold nonprofit hospitals accountable.”