Charity proposal fails in Illinois; Catholic hospitals affirm efforts

Published: 2006-03-30

CHICAGO (CNS) -- Catholic hospital administrators across Illinois are breathing sighs of relief as the state legislative session draws to a close, with no new requirement to provide a set level of charity care -- a requirement that could have made it impossible for many institutions to survive. Catholic and other not-for-profit hospitals had mobilized to oppose Attorney General Lisa Madigan's proposal to require them to provide charity care equal to 8 percent of their expenditures or lose their tax-exempt status. Part of the difficulty is making people understand how devastating such a law would be, said Philip Karst, executive director of the Illinois Catholic Health Association. There are 47 Catholic hospitals in Illinois, roughly a quarter of the total. "The hospitals do provide charity care," Karst said. "And all of them have reviewed and revised how they do that to make sure they have policies in place." But none of them can afford to provide charity care at the level Madigan suggested, in part because they are providing so much other uncompensated care, he said.

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