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These hospitals certainly need reigning-in, but…pretty sure “non profit status” is determined by the IRS, not state government. Don’t these legislators know that?
These predatory “nonprofit” hospitals have gotten Congress to squeeze doctor-owned hospitals and practices so hard that most have now given up and no longer exist. IBJ should publish the CEO salaries of these alleged nonprofits. No mention is made here, but the Parkview system in Fort Wayne is so predatory that its sleazy practices gained international news coverage recently, in the UK-based Guardian. Shame.
Good on these legislators for shining a light. Keep after these guys – their “charity” numbers are largely fudged.
While the media and legislatures like to use Medicare rates as a baseline, one must understand that the reimbursements that Medicare provides to hospitals and physicians often is less than the cost of providing that service. Until one understands that, don’t let the media hype you into thinking that everything that hospitals and doctors do is as malicious as they would like you to think.
Hospitals are one thing. Doctors are another. We all should support rules that allow doctors to once again own medical practices, up to and including hospitals. Our current health-care system is set up to serve “non-profit” hospitals, insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies. Everyone is doing great – except patients and physicians. It is exactly upside-down.
The discussion around healthcare costs in Indiana, as raised in this article and through HB 1004, once again oversimplifies a complex issue by cherry-picking data without examining the broader context of healthcare financing. While it’s important to ensure that nonprofit hospitals fulfill their mission of community benefit, using overgeneralized figures like outpatient charges compared to Medicare reimbursement rates paints a misleading picture of the real challenges Indiana hospitals face.
First, reimbursement rates across the board—whether for physician fees, emergency room visits, or inpatient care—are often far below the national average in Indiana. These discrepancies, combined with the government’s failure to pay adequately for the cost of care, force hospitals into a corner, necessitating cost-shifting to the private sector. Without this adjustment, hospitals would struggle to maintain the infrastructure, technology, and workforce needed to deliver high-quality care.
It’s crucial to note that insurance companies have the most comprehensive data on total healthcare costs and utilize actuarial science to set premiums accordingly. Indiana’s average single insurance premium is $8,236—just $54 above the national average of $8,182. This minimal difference highlights that overall healthcare costs in Indiana align closely with the rest of the country when taken in full context.
Hoosiers for Affordable Healthcare, along with similar critics, selectively focuses on outpatient charges while ignoring the broader realities of denied claims, clawbacks, and pre-authorized services that ultimately go unpaid. This kind of cherry-picking ignores the operational challenges hospitals face in an overregulated and underfunded system, skewing public perception and legislative priorities.
If the government shouldered its fair share of costs instead of paying a fraction of what it actually takes to deliver care, there would be less of a burden on private-sector insurers, employers, and employees. Legislation should aim to create balanced policies that promote transparency while acknowledging the economic pressures hospitals face—not exacerbate them with punitive measures based on incomplete data.
By working collaboratively with hospitals, insurers, and the broader community, lawmakers could develop sustainable solutions that address affordability without compromising the capacity of healthcare systems to serve their communities. Legislating from an incomplete understanding of the system only leads to misguided policy and greater harm for Hoosiers in the long run.
I agree wholeheartedly with your analysis. Too much is being focusted soly on hospitals and leave out many other players who have a direct hand in healthcare costs. Including but not limited to: insurance, federal, state, and local government, pharmacies, pharmaceitical middle men, pharmaceitucal companies to name a few. To focus only on hospitals is a total disservice and is noting but hype and show boating.