The facts about the innovations and commitments behind our effort to drive down the cost of care
Affordability // Access // Accountability
We understand misinformation and rumors travel fast, and you may have personally heard stories about our health system that are pure fiction. We would like to set the record straight by sharing the truth about our pricing, healthcare settings and our overall status as a non-profit health system. Here are the real facts that demonstrate how Parkview is optimizing care for our patients and communities.
Cost and Affordability
Misperception: Parkview continues to inflate commercial healthcare prices, driving up costs for working-class, local community members.
Reality: We have achieved a proven, consistent reduction in our commercial pricing. Parkview’s commercial rates fell for three consecutive years, according to the Indiana Department of Insurance’s 2025 Milliman Hospital Price Benchmarking Analysis, dropping from 278% of Medicare in 2022 to 262% in 2024. This trend brings Parkview’s commercial pricing 23 percentage points below the state’s statutory benchmark of 285%. We are encouraged by this progress and remain committed to further improving affordability. For more details, view the full report.
Parkview’s commercial rates fell for three consecutive years according to an independent audit, dropping to 262% of Medicare in 2024.
This brings Parkview 23% below the state’s benchmark of 285%.
Hybrid Approach to Affordable Care
Misperception: Parkview demands that its teams funnel patients into expensive hospital settings to boost corporate earnings.
Reality: Parkview is intentionally designing care models that reduce unnecessary use of higher-cost care settings. In fact, Parkview has pioneered the region’s very first combined emergency room and urgent care hybrid facility. Through this clinical flow, providers evaluate incoming patients in real time. If their condition can be safely managed without more expensive emergency resources, the patient will receive urgent care treatment and be billed at a lower rate. Explore our innovative hybrid ED and urgent care model here and here.
Supporting our Local Employers Misperception: Local employers are stuck addressing rising, rigid costs from traditional commercial insurance networks.
Reality: We are providing cost savings directly to regional employers and employees by bypassing traditional commercial insurance networks. Parkview’s Signature Care EPO+ direct-to-employer plan routinely saves companies upwards of 25%. The Indiana Department of Health’s inaugural 2025 Direct-to-Employer Review verified Parkview’s direct-to-employer rate at 203% of Medicare, substantially below Indiana's statutory benchmark of 260%. Read our Parkview Employer Solutions platform for more details.
Medical Debt and Expense Relief
Misperception: Parkview consistently forces massive medical bills onto its patients, locking them into aggressive payment plans.
Reality: Parkview has previously taken extensive measures to abolish medical debt anxiety. We partnered with a national nonprofit, Undue Medical Debt, to eliminate more than $64 million in medical debt for over 34,000 patients, lifting that financial burden without any conditions.
Parkview’s Financial Assistance Policy may provide 100% free care to households earning up to 275% of federal poverty guidelines. A Medically Uninsured Discount of 50% also applies to all eligible services for uninsured (self-pay) patients.
System Growth and Profit Margins
Misperception: As Indiana’s largest healthcare system, Parkview generates exceptionally high profit margins that surpass traditional commercial corporations.
Reality: Parkview's 2025 operating margin of 0.8% reflects a disciplined approach to managing resources while continuing to invest in patient care, access, and community health. By comparison, average corporate profit margins exceeded 13% in early 2026, and local for-profit operator Community Health System (Lutheran) reported a 16.3% operating margin in 2025. Parkview is not among Indiana's largest health systems, with larger organizations including Ascension, IU Health, Franciscan Health, and Community Health Network. Learn how we reinvest in local care on our Community Health Improvement page.
