State Treasurer: Wealthy hospitals in NC got too much COVID cash
The COVID-19 pandemic brought Americans the greatest levels of food, job, health and education insecurity we have seen in modern times. The government’s response was to pump trillions of dollars into the economy, funneling more than $50 billion to hospitals across the country.
While front-line workers endured long hours and in some cases low pay, rich hospitals — many of whom describe themselves as nonprofits — made a fortune on the backs of taxpayers.
A report by my office shows that North Carolina’s wealthy hospital systems scored record profits after taking the COVID relief dollars meant to save struggling hospitals. Rural hospitals staggered financially as the pandemic delayed surgeries and elective procedures, slashing revenue.
While workers and small practices suffered, seven wealthy hospital systems reaped a $7.1 billion growth in cash and investments during the pandemic — almost equaling the state’s appropriations for K-12 classroom instruction in 2020. That’s not even counting another $5.2 billion in net profits in 2021. The hospital systems are Duke Health, UNC Health, Novant Health, Atrium Health, WakeMed, Vidant Health and Cone Health.
As state treasurer, I have the responsibility to provide healthcare for 750,000 members of the State Health Plan. We spend almost $4 billion annually to provide medical and pharmaceutical coverage for those who teach, protect and otherwise serve. Most of these expenditures go to hospitals where we’re the largest customer. That’s why I asked researchers to help investigate the disparities in COVID relief dollars. What is in our report “Hospitals Profit During COVID-19” is shocking.
These multibillion-dollar hospital systems didn’t need the taxpayer COVID relief. For example, Atrium Health was sitting on $7 billion in cash and investments when it took more than $589 million in COVID relief and $438 million in advance payments. The system had enough cash on hand to operate for a year and 44 days without a dime of incoming revenue. Many rural hospitals didn’t even have enough cash on hand to last a month.
When it comes to healthcare, we all know that something is wrong. Healthcare is unaffordable. Patients cannot afford to wait any longer for real reform. Patients cannot see themselves out of poverty if N.C. hospitals continue to put profits over patients.
I am supporting the Medical Debt De-Weaponization Act to protect patients and to hold hospitals accountable for their billing practices. Most families are one hospital bill away from bankruptcy. Hospital executives need to repent — not simply say “I am sorry,” but stop and reverse course. Stop billing poor patients, stop putting profits above patients, stop asking for price increases and stop taking COVID relief without dedicating it to helping front-line workers and their communities.
Too many wealthy hospital nonprofits have lost their way and forgotten their mission. Hospital systems didn’t dedicate their windfall to caring for the poor. Some nonprofit hospitals increased billing of poor patients, while charity care spending fell across a third of hospitals. Atrium Health even sued hundreds of patients during the pandemic.
This is not about the doctors and nurses who saved my life when I was hospitalized with COVID in March 2020. It is about the multimillion-dollar executives who run multibillion-dollar investment and real estate corporations disguised as nonprofit hospitals. We need state leaders to take action to protect our citizens from the weaponization of medical debt.