Earlier this month, the Illinois Department of Revenue announced it would re-examine 15 health systems’ tax-exempt statuses based on how much charity care they provide to the community. The announcement came shortly after the department denied property tax-exempt status to Northwestern Memorial’s Prentice Women’s Hospital in Chicago, Edward Hospital in Naperville and Decatur (Ill.) Memorial Hospital.
The Illinois Hospital Association since wrote a letter to Gov. Quinn asking him to withdraw the tax-exemption denials to the three hospitals and stop any further inquiries into health systems until a legislative compromise was made. Gov. Quinn agreed to stop further action, but the three hospitals will still need to appeal their tax-exemption denials.
The legislative recommendations on charity care will be released March 1.
The state’s crackdown on non-profit hospitals stems from an Illinois Supreme Court ruling last year that deemed Provena Covenant Medical Center in Urbana, Ill., could not quality for tax-exempt status because it did not provide sufficient free or discounted care for the poor, according to the report.
Related Articles on Illinois Hospital Tax Exemption:
Illinois Investigating 15 Other Systems’ Charity Care; Hospitals Rev Up Lobbying
Illinois Department of Revenue Denies Tax-Exempt Status to 3 Illinois Hospitals
Some For-Profit Hospitals Provide as Much Charity Care to the Poor as Non-Profits
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