Indiana’s largest nonprofit hospitals are sitting on billions of dollars in net assets, and many have enough cash on hand to cover operations and payroll for a year or more, a state legislator said Friday.
Sen. Travis Holdman (R-Markle) questioned whether the hospital systems are doing enough to make health care affordable for Hoosiers.
“These giant hospital systems don’t pay taxes because they theoretically exist for charitable purposes, but the most charitable thing they could do with their massive reserves is lower the prices they charge Hoosier patients,” Holdman said in a press release.
The Indiana Hospital Association did not immediately respond to IBJ’s request for comment.
Indiana has the eighth highest hospital costs in the nation, according to the latest annual study by the Rand Corp. in May.
Indiana employers and employees are paying nearly three times, or 297%, what Medicare pays for the same services at the same hospital, the study concluded. That’s higher than the national average (254%), and higher than neighboring states Michigan (192%), Kentucky (231%), Illinois (247%) and Ohio (277%).
Holdman pointed to the 2023 audited financial statements of the six largest nonprofit hospital systems, filed with the Indiana Department of Health. They show the systems have net assets ranging from $1.8 billion for Deaconess Health System to $24.8 billion for Ascension. (Ascension’s numbers include 19 states, not just Indiana.)
Holdman has not yet filed any bills for this year’s legislative session in connection with the issue. Nor is he listed as a member of the Senate Health and Provider Committee.
The six hospital system highlighted by Holdman cover Ascension St. Vincent, Community Health Network,, Deaconess, Franciscan Alliance, Indiana University Health and Parkview Health System.
According to information in the 2023 audited reports, the health systems had enough unrestricted assets to cover operations for the following number of days:
- Ascension St. Vincent, 260 days
- Community Health Network, 212 days
- Deaconess, 369 days
- Franciscan Alliance, 396 days
- IU Health, 456 days
- Parkview Health, 341 days.
“As a fiscal leader at the Statehouse, I understand there is a real need to have some cash reserves in order to weather unforeseen circumstances,” Holdman said in written remarks. “However, while the state government typically hovers around 40 operational days, we see most of these nonprofit systems with enough assets cover 250 days and beyond, with 250 days being the high end of the range for S&P’s ‘very strong’ rating. In my opinion, that goes beyond prudent asset management and looks more like hoarding. I expect better from these nonprofit hospitals.”