Todays's Wall Street Journal ran a front page story that begins:
"No nprofit hospitals, originally set up to serve the poor, have transformed themselves into profit machines. And as the money rolls in, the large tax breaks they receive are drawing fire.
Riding gains from investment portfolios and enjoying the pricing power that came from a decade of mergers, many nonprofit hospitals have seen earnings soar in recent years. The combined net income of the 50 largest nonprofit hospitals jumped nearly eight-fold to $4.27 billion between 2001 and 2006, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of data from the American Hospital Directory."
A few AG's have been active in the area of posting and/or nudging the community benefits required by the laws that grant non-profit hospitals their unique status. In January, Montana AG Mike McGrath posted the results of a statewide survey where some hospitals looked like saints and some like sinners. (Montana Hospitals Report (PDF)) In Ma, the last three AG's have required hospitals to post community benefit statements. ( Attorney General's Community Benefits Guidelines )
Most AG's, however, do nothing.
Being hit on the front page of the WSJ is not a good thing. I cannot imagine that both the hospitals and the AG's will not be addressing this issue in the immediate future. If they do not, then the next Congress will not be as reticent at this one.
As one former AG said to me in an email after reading the story, "ouch!"
"Ouch," indeed.