The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act created a new set of rules for nonprofit hospitals to maintain their federal tax-exemption, codified at Section 501(r) of the Internal Revenue Code. The 501(r) rules attempt to address the problem of hospitals’ excessive prices and onerous debt...

Hospital prices are almost completely irrational. They bear no relationship to the cost of providing the services, they are opaque, and the prices vary wildly among hospitals and payers. The craziness of hospital pricing was laid bare when the federal government released data on hospital charges...