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January 4, 2006

Illinois Hospitals: Committed to Helping the Uninsured

Illinois hospitals serve the health care needs of people in their communities regardless of their ability to pay, their insurance status, or their citizenship status. As part of their commitment to their communities, hospitals treat patients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. People depend on this they turn to their hospital in times of crisis and can count on their hospital to be there for them.

Illinois hospitals are committed to helping patients who cannot pay for part or all of the medically necessary care they receive. Almost 1.8 million Illinoisans many of them immigrants and the working poor have no health insurance. Yet Illinois hospitals are there for them whenever they need medical care:

• Illinois hospitals provide more than $1.2 billion annually in medical care for which they do not receive any payment.
• Illinois hospitals typically assist uninsured patients in applying for government-sponsored health care programs for which they may be eligible, such as Medicare, Medicaid and KidCare.
• Illinois hospitals have partnered with the State to seek increased federal funds to support the Illinois Medicaid program including the hospital assessment legislation that brought the state an additional $430 million a year in federal Medicaid revenue in 2005 and intergovernmental transfers that bring the state an additional $500 million a year.
• In addition, a new hospital assessment program, if approved by the federal government, will bring the state $1.8 billion in new Medicaid funds over the next three years.

In 2003, the Illinois Hospital Association and Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council convened a task force that developed guidelines on charity care and collection practices for the uninsured to ensure that they are as patient-friendly as possible. Key guidelines include:

• Uninsured patients receive free care if they are at or below 100 percent of federal poverty guidelines.
• Discounts provided to patients with incomes between 100 and 200 percent of federal poverty guidelines.
• Hospitals work with patients receiving discounts to develop a reasonable payment plan.
• Hospitals do not take legal action against charity care patients who have demonstrated that they do not have sufficient income or assets to meet their financial obligations.

Illinois hospitals are very aware of the uninsured problem and are working diligently to help find solutions.

All of us hospitals, immigrant groups, unions, and government have the same goal: to address the flaws in the health care system that make it difficult for uninsured Illinoisans to access the health care services they need. The Illinois Hospital Association and its member hospitals continue to work with lawmakers, policymakers and others concerned about the uninsured to develop appropriate public policy to help solve the problem.

NOTE: The "Report of the Task Force on Charity Care and Collection Practices for the Uninsured" of IHA and MCHC is available by clicking here.