CQC’s updated nonprofit hospital scorecards highlight ongoing failures in charity care, pricing transparency, and medical debt protections

WASHINGTON – Today, Consumers for Quality Care (CQC) announced the release of updated Nonprofit Hospital Scorecards, reflecting the latest available data on hospital charity care, billing and collection practices, price transparency, medical debt protections, and patient safety.

The updated scorecards show that, across the country, many nonprofit hospitals continue to fall short of their charitable obligations—receiving billions of dollars in tax breaks while engaging in practices that leave patients facing high costs, medical debt, and limited access to clear pricing information. Despite federal and state efforts to improve transparency and affordability, the data reveal widespread noncompliance and weak consumer protections.

“These updates confirm what patients and families already know from experience: too many nonprofit hospitals are putting profits over patients,” said Jim Manley, CQC Board Member and former senior advisor to Senators Edward Kennedy and Harry Reid. “The public subsidizes these hospitals through generous tax breaks, but far too often consumers are left with inflated bills, aggressive debt collection, and no meaningful charity care in return.”

CQC’s Nonprofit Hospital Scorecards evaluate hospital performance across multiple consumer-focused measures, including:

• Whether nonprofit hospitals provide a fair level of charity care and community benefits relative to their tax exemptions
• Hospital billing, collection, and debt practices that can worsen financial hardship
• Compliance with federal hospital price transparency requirements
• State-level protections—or lack thereof—against medical debt
• Hospital safety and consolidation trends that affect cost and access to care

The newly updated scorecards incorporate the most recent data from leading health policy and research organizations, offering policymakers, advocates, journalists, and consumers a clear picture of how nonprofit hospitals are performing—and where they are failing.

“Nonprofit status is a public trust,” Manley added. “If hospitals want the benefits that come with it, they must meet their responsibilities to patients and communities. These scorecards are about accountability—and about giving consumers the information they deserve.”The updated Nonprofit Hospital Scorecards are available at consumers4qualitycare.org/scorecards, where consumers can learn more about hospital practices in their state and what reforms are needed to protect patients.