Dr. Oz exposes the nonprofit lie at the heart of US health care

American health care is a paradox. We spend more than any nation in history — nearly 20% of our GDP — yet our outcomes remain stubbornly mediocre.

New hospitals rise like monuments to excess. Their parking lots fill with luxury cars. Tax dollars pour in from every level of government. Private spending remains sky-high. But while the profits flow, patient satisfaction and results don’t keep pace.

At a bare minimum, nonprofit hospitals should be required to deliver real value — quality care, satisfied patients, and meaningful charity work.

That’s because the system doesn’t reward quality. It rewards short-term financial performance.

Health care costs keep rising faster than inflation. Voters resist higher taxes, so deficits explode. The federal government now routinely runs annual shortfalls exceeding 6% of GDP — even during boom times. Something’s got to give.

Enter Dr. Mehmet Oz. Once a fixture on daytime TV, now head of Medicare and Medicaid Services under President Trump, Oz has zeroed in on the real source of bloat: hospital executives enriching themselves under the guise of nonprofit care.

Oz recently urged Americans to review tax filings and publicly “shame” hospital administrators pulling down massive salaries. He’s right to sound the alarm.

Most hospitals claim nonprofit status — but their leadership rakes in pay packages in the tens of millions, complete with bonuses, stock perks, and golden parachutes. Those compensation schemes only make sense because the IRS grants nonprofits huge tax breaks. And the standards for maintaining that status? Laughably weak.

As a result, the federal government forfeits tens of billions of dollars annually — revenue that could support real health care reform or reduce the deficit.

Consider Nazareth Hospital in Philadelphia. It belongs to Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic, a large nonprofit chain. Trinity’s CEO earns over $1.4 million a year. Yet, Nazareth carries a dismal one-star Medicare rating, charges high prices, and provides very little charity care. Despite funneling more than $160 million annually through its doors, it contributes almost nothing in taxes — while local, state, and federal governments foot the bill for many of its patients.

It’s a rigged system: Taxpayers pay, executives profit, and patients suffer.

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  Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Dr. Oz is asking the right questions. Where does the money go? Who benefits most? Are we getting anything close to our money’s worth?

At a bare minimum, nonprofit hospitals should be required to deliver real value — quality care, satisfied patients, and meaningful charity work. When they fail, they should lose the privileges that come with tax-exempt status.

Congress must act. Update the laws. Close the loopholes. Scrutinize executive pay. Tie compensation to performance. And most importantly, re-center the system on patients — not the almighty dollar.

Thanks goes to Dr. Oz for breaking the silence. The American people deserve transparency, accountability, and a health care system that serves them — not the bureaucrats and fat cats feeding off the public trough.