Washington CAN!

On December 8, 2005, Washington CAN! released the report, "People or Profits? Providence St. Peter Hospital Fails in its Charitable Mission.” The report reveals that Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia, Washington:

• charges the uninsured the highest rates for care,
• frequently fails to notify patients of financial assistance,
• and forces families into financial ruin and bankruptcy caused by hospital debt, while earning rapidly increasing profit margins.

We're calling on Providence to renew its mission to serve the poor and vulnerable by implementing a fair financial assistance policy for low-income patients.

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Providence charges the uninsured the highest rates for care. Uninsured patients are asked to pay 27 percent more for the same care as insurance companies pay for their insured patients. At Providence, uninsured patients are charged 82 percent more than the cost of the services they receive.

Providence has higher list prices than other comparable hospitals. Providence has the 8th highest price mark-up of the 90 hospitals in Washington State. When a mother delivers her baby at Providence, she can expect gross charges to be between $4,000 and $7,800 higher than at comparable hospitals, including the for-profit Capital Medical Center.

Providence St. Peter’s fails to consistently notify patients about financial assistance options, and assistance may not be adequate. Less than a quarter of patients with bills at St. Pete’s had been informed of their right to apply for charity care, according to a recent Washington CAN! survey. Many charges resulting from hospital based care are not covered by hospital financial assistance programs, including bills for lab work, radiology, anesthesiology, doctors and specialists, and ambulance services.

High hospital related bills are forcing families into financial ruin and bankruptcy. 42 percent of patients with bills from Providence St. Peter’s have been late on other bills because of hospital debt, 42 percent have had their credit affected, and 24 percent have considered bankruptcy, according to a recent Washington CAN! survey.

While patients are struggling under oppressive hospital debt, Providence is enjoying increasing profitability. Profits (total revenue minus total expenses) for Providence St. Peter Hospital have increased each year by $4-6 million, totaling more than $37 million over the last three years. Henry Walker, President and CEO of the Providence Health System, earns over $1.4 million each year.

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Providence should prioritize core values ahead of corporate values. As a non-profit, charitable hospital, Providence should focus on fulfilling its mission to serve “the poor and vulnerable” and honoring core values of “Compassion, Justice, Respect, Excellence, & Stewardship,” rather than increasing profitability and executive compensation.

Providence can honor core values by implementing a fair financial assistance policy for low income patients, including

• Billing the uninsured at the cost of providing care rather than the substantially higher mark-up costs;
• Adequately notifying all patients of the availability of financial assistance; and
• Providing financial assistance for all bills associated with hospital care.

In The News

Read Washington CAN!'s report, "People or Profits? Providence St. Peter Hospital Fails in its Charitable Mission.”

Read the coverage from The Olympian: Providence billing under fire and Citizens give testimony criticizing hospital billing

Read an article from The National Catholic Reporter on the Providence Health System: How corporate, how Catholic?

Read letters to the editor published in The Olympian regarding Providence’s billing practices: Dec. 22, 2005, Dec. 23, 2005, Dec. 29, 2005.

Charity Care

Learn more about WCA’s work on Charity Care.

Current Legislation

Rep. Eileen Cody has sponsored H.B. 2574, a bill to improve access to charity care for low-income patients.