STAT+: Nonprofit health system raked in $1.1 billion this year from stake in medical billing firm — SkimNews
Get the Health newsletter
Daily health & science — research, biotech, public health, the studies worth knowing. Free.
- Bon Secours Mercy Health received a $671 million payment from Ensemble Health Partners roughly two weeks ago after the billing firm signed a new private equity sponsor
- The Cincinnati-based nonprofit system also recorded a $427 million distribution from Ensemble back in February
- Combined Ensemble-related distributions to Bon Secours Mercy have now topped $1.1 billion in the current fiscal year
- Bon Secours Mercy sold stakes in its in-house billing and collections operation to private equity investors seven years ago but retains a minority position that continues generating outsized returns
- Both payments were disclosed on Bon Secours Mercy's second-quarter financial report covering the period ending June 30
Why it matters: A tax-exempt nonprofit hospital system pulling in more than $1.1 billion in a single year from a medical billing company it created and partially sold off highlights how far spin-offs can travel from their nonprofit origins. Patients and regulators increasingly scrutinize whether nonprofit health systems' billing-related revenue streams align with their charitable obligations.
Ask SkimNews
