The Institute for Health Policy Accountability (IHPA), an independent authority on key drivers of decision-making in the health care space, today released a new report showing how some of Illinois’ largest non-profit hospital systems are generating massive revenues, enriching top executives, and turning their backs on low-income patients, all while cashing in on the federal 340B Drug Pricing Program meant to expand access to affordable care for those who need it most.

This report comes as a bill (HB2371 SA2) moves through the Illinois Legislature to expand the 340B program. It is the latest study in IHPA’s ongoing series examining how non-profit hospitals nationwide are leaving low-income patients behind while misusing and profiting from the 340B program, a federal initiative intended to help hospitals provide care and affordable medications to underserved populations. The Illinois report reviews some of the state’s largest non-profit hospital systems that participate in the 340B program, including Northwestern Memorial Healthcare, Advocate Health and Hospitals Corporation, OSF Healthcare System, University of Chicago Medical Center, Rush University Medical Center, NorthShore University Health System, and Loyola University Medical Center.

Key findings from the IHPA New York report include:

Failure to serve low-income communities

• A statewide analysis found that 63 percent of Illinois’ private non-profit hospitals received more in tax benefits than they invested back into their communities, amounting to a $1.3 billion fair share deficit annually.
• Nine IL non-profit hospitals spent less than the state average on community investment, while four spent under 50 percent of the state average rate.

Lavish executive compensation and corporate excess

• Northwestern Memorial Healthcare paid over $23 million in total executive compensation in 2024, including more than $6 million to Executive Chairman Dean Harrison and $4.3 million to President and CEO Howard Chrisman.
• University of Chicago Medical Center’s president took home nearly $3.5 million in 2023, with seven other employees also clearing seven figures.
• Rush University Medical Center spent nearly $36 million on executive compensation in 2023, including over $3.5 million for its President and CEO.
• Advocate Health paid the president of its children’s hospital over $2.2 million in 2024, with 11 employees earning seven-figure salaries that same year.

Massive revenues and rapid financial growth

• Northwestern Memorial Healthcare reported more than $10 billion in revenue in 2024, growing nearly 10 percent year over year.
• Advocate Health and Hospitals Corporation generated nearly $7.8 billion in revenue, growing more than 13 percent year over year.
• OSF Healthcare System reported nearly $3.9 billion in revenue, growing 15.1 percent year over year.
• University of Chicago Medical Center, Rush University Medical Center, NorthShore University Health System, and Loyola University Medical Center each reported billions in annual revenue.

Fraud, abuse, and putting profits over patients

• NorthShore University Health System’s Evanston Hospital received $152 million more in tax breaks than it spent on community services between 2020 and 2022, the largest fair share deficit of any hospital in Illinois.
• Northwestern Memorial Hospital faced a whistleblower complaint in 2010 alleging the hospital and Northwestern University double-billed both Medicare and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for the same patients, with the whistleblower alleging that employees who raised concerns faced retaliation.
• OSF Saint Francis Medical Center was ordered by a judge to pay $41 million in a medical malpractice case after a patient suffered a stroke and permanent brain damage due to the hospital’s failure to monitor his lab results.

Read the full report here.

BACKGROUND ON 340B: 

• The 340B Drug Pricing Program was enacted by Congress in 1992 and meant to lower prescription drug costs for non-profit hospitals that serve low-income and vulnerable communities. Instead, research shows the program has been exploited by major non-profit health systems that generate billions in annual revenue.
• This report follows a Senate HELP Committee hearing in October 2025, where Republican Senators voiced their frustrations with the program.
• According to a CBO analysis late last year, hospitals across the U.S. have exploited the 340B Drug Pricing Program, resulting in significant waste, fraud, and abuse. The report found that the program “encourages behaviors that increase federal spending and raise prices for American taxpayers.”

The Institute for Health Policy Accountability is an independent authority on key drivers of decision making in the health care space. IHPA provides fact-based research and analysis across the public policy landscape, adding a central and currently missing voice to the conversation.

###