News & Events

Massachusetts Hospitals Stockpile $1.6 Billion in Cayman Islands and other Offshore Accounts; Nurses Call for Financial Transparency

CANTON, Mass. – Hospital corporations across Massachusetts have placed at least $1.6 billion in the Cayman Islands and other well-known offshore tax havens, leading nurses and lawmakers to call for legislation requiring financial transparency from hospitals and the returning of excess profits and CEO pay to the public good.

“We can improve our health care system by shining a light on hospital finances, limiting excessive CEO pay and ensuring that the public has a stronger voice in shaping how our health care dollars are spent,” said Karen Coughlin, a 35-year RN from Mansfield and Vice President of the Massachusetts Nurses Association.

The Hospital Profit Transparency and Fairness Act (S. 714/H. 1144) requires hospitals to disclose financial holdings and profits, including money kept in offshore accounts. It will also claw back excessive profits and CEO pay and return that money to the public good through a newly created Medicaid Reimbursement Enhancement Fund. Massachusetts hospitals are both largely non-profit organizations and publicly funded through tax dollars.

Hospital Corporation City/Town of Hospitals IRS 990 or Auditor Data

(FY 2017 unless otherwise noted) Offshore Account Location, etc. Public Payer Mix (% of revenue from Medicare, Medicaid, and state funds) BAYSTATE HEALTH Greenfield, Palmer, Springfield, Westfield $100,801,000 Cayman Islands 69.1% (avg. of hospitals) PARTNERS HEALTHCARE Boston, Newton, Salem, Nantucket, Northampton, Martha’s Vineyard, Belmont $100,909,744 2016 data 65.6% (avg. of hospitals) LAHEY HOSPITAL & MEDICAL CENTER Burlington $74,313,000 Bermuda 60.1% TUFTS MEDICAL CENTER PARENT INC. Boston $1,682,860 Central America & the Caribbean 61.9% BOSTON CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL Boston $376,247,495 Central America & the Caribbean; Sub-Saharan Africa 34.7% WINCHESTER HOSPITAL Winchester $894,158 Bermuda 46.3% SOUTHCOAST HOSPITALS GROUP New Bedford, Fall River, Ware $26,399,000 Specific location unavailable 74% SOUTH SHORE HOSPITAL Weymouth $3,749,000 2015 data 60% HALLMARK HEALTH Reading, Medford, Melrose $6,530,000 Specific location unavailable 63.3% (MelroseWakefield) BERKSHIRE HEALTH Pittsfield North Adams $13,586,165 Cayman Islands 68.2% (avg. of hospitals) NORTHEAST HOSPITAL CORP. (BEVERLY & ADDISON GILBERT) Beverly, Gloucester $12,075,000 Bermuda 64.6% CAPE COD HEALTHCARE Hyannis, Falmouth $29,808,000 Cayman Islands 71.8 (avg. of hospitals) BOSTON MEDICAL CENTER Boston $87,103,000 Cayman Islands 76.9% UMASS MEMORIAL HEALTH Worcester, Marlborough, Leominster $171,000,000 Cayman Islands 65.6% (UMass Memorial Medical Center) TRINITY HEALTH Holyoke, Springfield $654,092,000 Specific location unavailable 74.2% (Mercy Medical Center) MILFORD REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER INC. Milford $678,257 Central America and the Caribbean, Europe, East Asia & the Pacific 52.3% TOTAL $1,659,868,679 Average: 63% Source: FY 2017 data from CHIA

* For source documents related to the table, please email jmarkman@mnarn.org.

“We know that every major network in the state, including Baystate Health, Partners and Lahey have offshore accounts in tax havens like the Cayman Islands by digging through opaque, complex financial forms,” said RN and MNA President Donna Kelly-Williams. “Taxpayers have a right to know how much of their money is sitting in an offshore bank account or going toward out-of-state expansion – especially if those taxpayers live in a community that has just lost an essential service.”

Bill Co-Sponsor Senator Michael Moore:

“Given the high cost of health care, the public deserves to know what hospital executives are doing with public funds. Many people do not realize that many of the Commonwealth’s multi-billion-dollar hospital corporations are largely funded by taxpayer dollars. Transparency in regard to the use of those funds is critical to maintaining public trust.”

Bill Co-Sponsor Representative Josh Cutler:

“Our Medicare, Medicaid and other state tax dollars fund hospital corporations, but what those corporations do with our money can be at odds with public service. This bill will allow the public to see exactly where our tax dollars are going – especially if they end up in the Cayman Islands – and limit excessive hospital CEO pay. We should instead spend that money helping our most vulnerable patients.”

To address this issue, The Hospital Profit Transparency and Fairness Act (S. 714/H. 1144) will: