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Seven of the 10 most profitable U.S. hospitals are nonprofits, according to new research, including one in Urbana, Illinois, where hospital tax exemptions are headed for a contentious court battle that soon could determine whether medical facilities are paying their fair share of taxes. The "Top 10" list accompanies a study published Monday in the journal Health Affairs. (5/2)

The top three were nonprofits. Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center, part of the large Wisconsin-based health system, made the most money: $302.5 million just on its patients. California-based Sutter Medical Center, also part of a large system, came in second. Stanford Hospital, also in California, was third. Those hospitals share a key attribute, the authors argued. Whether because of their size, their prestige or their influence in the community, they have more power to negotiate prices, meaning they can charge insurers more for the care they give. “They are the only provider — or they are clearly the dominant provider — and the insurers in that community are relatively weaker, and there are a lot of them,” said Gerard Anderson, director of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Hospital Finance and Management, and one of the study’s authors. (Luthra, 5/2)

The hospitals with the highest price markups earned the largest profits. Anderson thinks they should lower their prices or plow more back into the communities. "Mostly, the hospitals are able to charge more because they can, and they do," he said. "There's no need for nonprofit hospitals to earn substantial profits." Hospitals are among the largest property owners and employers in many communities. Those designated as nonprofits receive state and federal tax breaks for providing “charity care and community benefit.” (Sun, 5/2)