Consejo de Latinos Unidos, a national non-profit consumer advocacy organization which educates and assists Latinos and others, says the abuses happened while the group sat on over $20 billion in cash and investments.
"The $2 billion in profits are after all the charity care, all the losses on Medicaid, all the capital improvements. This is money sitting in the bank, made in part off the backs of uninsured Hispanics," says K.B. Forbes, Executive Director of the Consejo.
He adds, "The capital thievery of overcharging middle-class uninsured families, many whom happen to be Hispanic, three or four times more than what a hospital would accept as payment in full from an insurance company is a direct slap in the face of faithful church-goers." One in three Latinos is uninsured.
Analyzing the figures provided by the hospitals in their annual financial reports and tax returns, the Consejo reviewed seven of the largest nonprofit Catholic hospital systems (Ascension Health, Catholic Health Initiatives, Catholic Healthcare Partners, Catholic Healthcare West, Providence Health System, SSM Health Care, and Trinity Health) and found that the systems had shocking financial habits. Their profits were in the billions, and unrestricted salaries were rampant.
The analysis prompted the group to demand the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops use its "moral authority" to end price gouging of uninsured middle-class families at Catholic hospitals.
