Hospital CEO “Fat Cat” Mascot Will Deliver Audible Greeting Cards to All Legislators inviting them to Join Him in the Cayman Islands Where Hospitals Stash Millions in Profits from Taxpayer Dollars

The Hospital Profit Transparency & Fairness Act Measure Will Guarantee the taxpayer’s right to know exactly how their health care dollars are spent by hospital CEOs

State House Hearing:   

Wednesday, June 3 at 11 a.m.
State House, Room B2
Press Availability/Special Delivery:  Prior to the hearing at 10:30 a.m.

Fat Cat Hospital CEO (accompanied by a delegation of nurses) will deliver Cayman Island Greeting Cards to legislators and the State House Press Room. To view and listen to the card visit: http://youtu.be/ks9M7k8d3c4 

BOSTON, MA -- Nurses and health care advocates will testify at a hearing before the Massachusetts Health Care Financing Committee on the Hospital Profit Transparency and Fairness Act (S623/H979). Co-sponsored by State Senator Michael Moore (D-Millbury) and State Rep. Josh Cutler (D-Duxbury), the measure will guarantee the taxpayers’ right to know exactly how their health care dollars are spent by hospital administrators. 

Most hospitals in Massachusetts receive at least half their revenues from tax dollars, including Medicare, Medicaid, taxpayer funded grants, loans, subsidies and waivers on local, state and federal taxes. The hearing on the bill comes as the legislature finalizes the state budget, which will include provisions detailing how much of our tax dollars they will provide hospital administrators. Yet legislators and voters have NO idea how much money hospitals store in offshore accounts or why hospitals don’t keep their excess reserves in Massachusetts’ banks. At the same time, Hospital CEOs in our state are paid excessive salary packages that bear no relationship to the quality of care and patient outcomes like readmission rates and infection rates, where our hospitals rank among the worst in the nation.

To draw attention to the issue on the day of the hearing, a Hospital CEO mascot dressed in a “Fat Cat” costume will deliver audible Cayman Island Greeting cards to all the legislators and the State House press corps. Advocates will also provide lists of the more than 40 hospitals with funds stored in offshore accounts and urge legislators to demand greater transparency by passing the HPTFA. To identify hospitals with offshore accounts in your coverage area, see the full listing that appears at the end of this advisory. Press is invited to accompany the Fat Cat mascot as he delivers Cayman Island Greeting Cards to legislators.

The transparency act requires that hospitals receiving taxpayer subsidies disclose in a timely and fully transparent manner how large their profit margins are, how much money they hold in offshore accounts and how much compensation they pay their CEOs. When hospitals like North Adams Regional Hospital and Quincy Medical Center are closing while at the same time other hospitals are closing pediatric, detox and psychiatric units, policy makers have the right to know if tax dollars are being spent to benefit patients or hospital CEOs. To ensure access to needed services by all patients, the act also provides enhanced funding options for hospitals serving poorer populations. Click here to view the full text of the bill.  

“As healthcare costs continue to grow for individuals across Massachusetts, the Commonwealth has been forced to increase healthcare expenditures at an unsustainable rate,” said Senator Michael Moore.  “With so much of the system subsidized by taxpayers, citizens deserve to know that their tax dollars are being used to secure the best possible treatment for patients.  This bill greatly increases transparency and accountability at our hospitals, promoting responsible and effective spending of critical tax dollars.”

Below is a  complete list of Massachusetts hospitals with offshore accounts:

ORGANIZATION

OFFSHORE LOCATIONS

ADDISON GILBERT HOSPITAL (LAHEY/NORTHEAST)

CAYMAN ISLANDS, BANGLADESH

BAYSTATE FRANKLIN MEDICAL CENTER

CARIBBEAN/CENTRAL AMERICA

BAYSTATE MARY LANE HOSPITAL

CARIBBEAN/CENTRAL AMERICA

BAYSTATE MEDICAL CENTER

CARIBBEAN/CENTRAL AMERICA

BERKSHIRE MEDICAL CENTER INC

CAYMAN ISLANDS

BETH ISRAEL DEACONESS HOSPITAL - NEEDHAM

CARIBBEAN/CENTRAL AMERICA, EAST ASIA/PACIFIC ISLANDS, EUROPE, NORTH AMERICA, SOUTH AMERICA

BETH ISRAEL DEACONESS HOSPITAL - PLYMOUTH

CARIBBEAN/CENTRAL AMERICA, EAST ASIA/PACIFIC ISLANDS, EUROPE, NORTH AMERICA, SOUTH AMERICA

BETH ISRAEL DEACONESS HOSPITAL- MILTON

CARIBBEAN/CENTRAL AMERICA, EAST ASIA/PACIFIC ISLANDS, EUROPE, NORTH AMERICA, SOUTH AMERICA

BETH ISRAEL DEACONESS MEDICAL CENTER INC

CARIBBEAN/CENTRAL AMERICA, EAST ASIA/PACIFIC ISLANDS, EUROPE, NORTH AMERICA, SOUTH AMERICA

BEVERLY HOSPITAL (LAHEY/NORTHEAST)

CAYMAN ISLANDS, BANGLADESH

BOSTON MEDICAL CENTER

CARIBBEAN/CENTRAL AMERICA, EUROPE, NORTH AMERICA, SOUTH AMERICA

CAPE COD HEALTHCARE INC (Cape Cod & Falmouth Hospitals

CARIBBEAN/CENTRAL AMERICA

CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL BOSTON

CARIBBEAN/CENTRAL AMERICA

CLINTON HOSPTAL

CAYMAN ISLANDS

DANA FARBER CANCER INSTITUTE

CARIBBEAN/CENTRAL AMERICA

FAIRVIEW HOSPITAL

CAYMAN ISLANDS

LAHEY CLINIC HOSPITAL INC

CARIBBEAN/CENTRAL AMERICA

LAWRENCE MEMORIAL (HALLMARK HEALTH)

CAYMAN ISLANDS

MARLBOROUGH HOSPITAL

CAYMAN ISLANDS

MASSACHUSETTS EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY

CARIBBEAN/CENTRAL AMERICA

MELROSE-WAKEFIELD HOSPITAL (HALLMARK HEALTH)

CAYMAN ISLANDS

MILFORD REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER INC

CARIBBEAN/CENTRAL AMERICA, EAST ASIA/PACIFIC ISLANDS, EUROPE, NORTH AMERICA

MOUNT AUBURN HOSPITAL

CARIBBEAN/CENTRAL AMERICA, EAST ASIA/PACIFIC ISLANDS, EUROPE, NORTH AMERICA, SOUTH AMERICA

NEW ENGLAND BAPTIST HOSPITAL

CARIBBEAN/CENTRAL AMERICA, EAST ASIA/PACIFIC ISLANDS, EUROPE, NORTH AMERICA, SOUTH AMERICA

NORTHEAST HOSPITAL CORP. (Beverly and Addison Gilbert)

CAYMAN ISLANDS, BANGLADESH

PARTNERS (BRIGHAM & WOMEN'S & FAULNER)

CARIBBEAN/CENTRAL AMERICA

PARTNERS (COOLEY DICKINSON HOSPITAL)

CARIBBEAN/CENTRAL AMERICA

PARTNERS (NORTH SHORE MEDICAL CENTER)

CARIBBEAN/CENTRAL AMERICA

PARTNERS HEALTHCARE SYSTEM INC

CARIBBEAN/CENTRAL AMERICA

PARTNERS HEALTHCARE SYSTEM INC (Martha's Vineyard Hospital)

CARIBBEAN/CENTRAL AMERICA

PARTNERS HEALTHCARE SYSTEM INC (MGH Physicians Org)

CARIBBEAN/CENTRAL AMERICA

PARTNERS HEALTHCARE SYSTEM INC (MGH)

CARIBBEAN/CENTRAL AMERICA

PARTNERS HEALTHCARE SYSTEM INC (Nantucket Cottage)

CARIBBEAN/CENTRAL AMERICA

PARTNERS HEALTHCARE SYSTEM INC (Newton-Wellesley)

CARIBBEAN/CENTRAL AMERICA

ST. LUKE'S HOSPITAL (SOUTHCOAST)

CAYMAN ISLANDS

TOBEY HOSPITAL (SOUTHCOAST)

CAYMAN ISLANDS

TUFTS MEDICAL CENTER PARENT INC

CARIBBEAN/CENTRAL AMERICA

UMASS MEMORIAL HEALTH CARE INC

CAYMAN ISLANDS

UMASS MEMORIAL HEALTH CARE INC (UMMMC, CLINTON, MARLBOROUGH, FORMERLY WING)

CAYMAN ISLANDS

UMASS MEMORIAL MEDICAL CENTER

CAYMAN ISLANDS

WINCHESTER Hospital

CAYMAN ISLANDS

WING MEMORIAL (FORMERLY UMASS; NOW BAYSTATE)

CAYMAN ISLANDS