In early 2022, Washington State Attorney General (AG) Bob Ferguson announced a consumer protection lawsuit against Swedish and other Providence-affiliated hospitals for failing to provide sufficient charity care to low-income individuals as required by Washington’s Charity Care Act. ECO’s Dr. Kevin E. Cahill was asked by the AG’s office to assess the extent to which charity care expenditures in Providence hospitals differed from those in other hospitals in Washington State. Dr. Cahill found that charity care expenditures as a percentage of total patient services revenues were substantially lower for Providence-affiliated hospitals compared with other hospitals in Washington. Two years later, in February 2024, the AG announced a resolution of the lawsuit:
“Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced today that Providence, one of the nation’s largest health care systems, must forgive more than $137 million in medical debt and refund more than $20 million to patients the company billed for services despite knowing they likely qualified for free or reduced-cost health care. The $157.8 million resolution will provide full refunds, plus interest, and debt forgiveness for 99,446 individuals. It is the largest resolution of its kind in the country.”
