Hospitals Are Cashing In on Real Estate
Nonprofit hospital chains are buying up billions of dollars’ worth of real estate across the US, dodging property taxes using their charity status.
44 Articles by: Helen Santoro
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Helen Santoro is a journalist based in Colorado.
Berkshire Hathaway Wants to Stiff Makeup Poisoning Victims
Warren Buffett’s conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway, profited off sale of a makeup ingredient that has been linked to cancer. The company is using fancy legal footwork to try to get out of paying remuneration to its victims.
You’ve Already Paid for Overpriced Weight-Loss Drugs
The federal government has spent $6.2 billion on research and development for weight-loss drugs. Now, thanks to Big Pharma markups, Americans are paying up to 11 times more for these drugs than patients in other countries, despite already footing the bill.
Big Companies Are Already Asking Trump for Favors
Amazon helped fund Donald Trump’s inauguration. The retail giant and the insurer UnitedHealth waited less than a day to start begging the new administration to shut down their shareholders’ calls for transparency.
Health Insurers’ “$0 Copay” Drug Assistance Scam
Drugmakers offer “copay assistance programs” to help people afford expensive medicines. But health insurers are milking these programs for billions of dollars in extra profits while denying patients the benefits they were designed to provide.
Wall Street Is Making Your Doctor Visits More Expensive
In the US, more and more doctors are now affiliated with the hospital conglomerates or Wall Street firms taking over the health care system — and these doctors tend to charge significantly more for office visits than independent practitioners do.
Drug Ads Misinform Patients and Raise Health Care Costs
Direct-to-consumer drug ads are prohibited in almost all countries besides the US. By leading doctors to prescribe unnecessary and more expensive treatments at the request of their patients, they also raise health care costs across the board.
On-Demand Nursing Is Dangerous for Nurses and Patients
Big Tech and Wall Street are deploying an on-demand nursing model across America. Created to solve a nursing shortage that doesn’t exist, it creates unsafe conditions for both medical professionals and patients.
Health Insurers’ Profits Are Reaching New Heights
The top five health insurers have raked in over $371 billion in profits since ACA passed. Over 40% of that went to the parent company of CEO Brian Thompson’s UnitedHealthcare, UnitedHealth Group — which denies nearly one in three claims from its policyholders.
Trump’s IRS Nominee Wanted to Go After the Humane Society
Donald Trump’s pick to head the Internal Revenue Service pressed the agency to investigate and consider stripping the country’s leading animal welfare group, the Humane Society, of its tax status. As IRS chief, he’d be in a position to make that happen.
Here’s What Dems Could Accomplish in the Lame-Duck Period
Democrats could actually do a lot in the months before Donald Trump takes office to impose guardrails against the next four years of deregulatory and extreme pro-business policies.
The Rich Are Hoarding Their Wealth Using Charity Funds
Wall Street–backed charity funds provide ultrawealthy donors with massive charitable tax breaks — yet operate without any requirement to ever distribute the money to working charities.
Joe Biden Is Giving More Leniency to Corporate Lawbreakers
The Biden Justice Department just announced it is making it easier for corporate lawbreakers to avoid prosecution — even if they have committed multiple crimes, earned significant profit from their wrongdoing, and failed to self-disclose the misconduct.
The Secret Toxins Left Behind After Hurricane Helene
Lobbying by the chemical industry and weak regulations are obscuring details about industrial toxins contaminating areas hit by disasters like Hurricane Helene. If Trump takes office, his administration will likely weaken disclosure rules further.
Amid Hurricane Milton, GOP Reps Are Blocking Climate Action
As Hurricane Milton bears down on their districts, two Republican representatives backed by fossil fuel companies are pushing legislation that claims the climate crisis is a “false emergency.”
Dark Money Is Flooding Kamala Harris’s Campaign Coffers
Before Kamala Harris became vice president, she had a clear message about dark money groups: they play a dangerously influential role in our political system. Now her campaign is reaping the rewards of massive donations from these very sources.
Dark Money Advocates Want Tax Breaks for Campaign Donations
A new lawsuit backed by Trump-linked operatives seeks to make dark money donations tax-deductible. The rich already face no spending limits on influencing elections and, if successful, the suit could turbocharge dark money in politics.
How Dark Money Groups Bought a Tax Cut in Colorado
Dark money groups extracted huge tax cuts from Colorado lawmakers by threatening to push ballot initiatives that would slash taxes even further. Referenda should promote democracy — yet billionaires are using them to blackmail the state.
Will Kamala Harris Finally Kill the Billionaire Tax Break?
Kamala Harris has signaled she supports closing the carried interest tax loophole, an enormous boon to rich investors looking to avoid higher taxes. But she’s also received $80 million this year from finance, insurance, and real-estate sectors.
White Nationalists May Be Behind GOP Worker Surveillance
An anti-immigration nonprofit with ties to hate groups is pushing GOP lawmakers to expand the use of a government website designed to screen workers’ immigration status.