Wednesday, September 13, 2006 
 

CONSEJO EXPOSES CATHOLIC HOSPITAL PROFITS: $6.4 MILLION A DAY! 

Powerful U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley Praised for Questioning
Undeserved Tax Breaks for Billion Dollar “Not-for-Profit” Hospitals

WASHINGTON, DC—As the U.S. Senate Finance Committee holds hearings today on not-for-profit hospitals and their conduct, Consejo de Latinos Unidos, the leading national advocacy group that fights hospital price gouging of the uninsured, released stunning data from the annual reports from the top 12 Catholic not-for-profit hospital chains showing that these not-for-profit entities earned a staggering $6.4 million in profits a day, every day for the past three fiscal years. 

The Consejo reviewed the published annual reports of 12 not-for-profit Catholic hospital systems for fiscal years 2003, 2004, and 2005. The Consejo found that the “dirty dozen” earned $7.1 billion in profits during that three year period and they are currently sitting on $27.7 billion in cash and investments.  

“The clerical mouthpieces of the Catholic Church that have been deliberately defending these so-called religious hospitals should engage in an Examination of Conscience and visit the Confessional booth,” said K.B. Forbes, Executive Director of the Consejo and a practicing Catholic. “In no way is the ‘healing mission of Jesus Christ’ about raking in seven-figures of profit a day while stacking up $27 billion on Wall Street all tax-free. Taxpayers and the faithful are being ripped off.” 

Yesterday, powerful U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley, who chairs the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, remarked, “Non-profit doesn’t necessarily mean pro-poor patient. Non-profit hospitals may provide less care to the poor than their for-profit counterparts. They may charge poor, uninsured patients more for the same services than they charge insured patients. They sometimes give their executives gold-plated compensation packages and generous perks such as country club memberships. All of this calls into question whether non-profit hospitals deserve the billions of dollars in tax breaks they receive from federal, state, and local governments.” 

“We applaud Senator Grassley for sticking up for and protecting the uninsured and taxpayers from the deceptive and egregious behavior of these so-called ‘not-for-profit’ hospitals,” said Forbes. Last March, the Consejo was profiled by CBS’ 60 Minutes for its work against hospital abuses. The Catholic hospital data can be viewed at http://www.consejohelp.org.