Mass. Group Cite Cayman & Bermuda Accounts
At a press conference held this week in Boston, an advocacy group said over 40 Massachusetts hospitals had money stored in offshore accounts and urged legislators to demand greater transparency by passing The Hospital Profit Transparency & Fairness Act.
The advocates provided a list of over 40 Massachusetts hospitals with offshore accounts [PDF], and while the vast majority of them are in the Cayman Islands, three were cited as having Bermuda accounts; Lahey Clinic, Boston Medical Center and Northeast Hospital.
Karen Higgins, critical care nurse at Boston Medical Center and Co-President of National Nurses United explained: “Hospitals in Massachusetts receive half their revenues from tax dollars including Medicare, Medicaid, public employee and retiree health insurance, taxpayer funded grants, loans, subsidies and waivers on local, state and federal taxes.
“This week legislators debate the state budget and decide how many of our tax dollars they will provide to hospital administrators. Yet legislators have no idea how much money hospitals store in offshore accounts or why hospitals don’t keep their excess reserves in Massachusetts’ banks.”
Democratic Rep. Josh Cutler said: “I am deeply troubled to learn that some Massachusetts hospitals are storing funds offshore in the Cayman Islands and not disclosing it. Before we provide these hospitals with public money for reimbursements we should be demanding greater transparency and accountability.”
Patientsafetyact.com – a website to promote the legislation — said, “Most hospitals in Massachusetts receive more than half their revenues from taxpayers. Yet there is no way for the public and policy makers to accurately understand how those taxpayer dollars are being allocated and spent.
“While these taxpayer subsidies are intended to provide health care services to our communities, too many of these hospital corporations have been cutting services and staff, while posting enormous profits and/or hiding those profits in off-shore accounts undisclosed to the public.”
Be interesting to see if they plead poverty in mass……..this is ok because we have a good product…it is understandable,I’m happy,just that we have high insurance and hospital cost that do not reflect common adverage income….and our hospital asks for donations…..not well .