093_SB1064enr

 
SB1064 Enrolled                      LRB093 06804 AMC 06946 b

 1        AN ACT concerning health care.

 2        Be it  enacted  by  the  People  of  the  State  of  Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:

 4        Section 1.  Short title. This Act may  be  cited  as  the
 5    Community Benefits Act.

 6        Section  5.  Applicability.  This Act does not apply to a
 7    hospital operated by a unit of government, a hospital located
 8    outside of a metropolitan statistical  area,  or  a  hospital
 9    with 100 or fewer beds.  Hospitals that are owned or operated
10    by  or  affiliated with a health system shall be deemed to be
11    in compliance with this Act if the health system has met  the
12    requirements of this Act.

13        Section 10.  Definitions. As used in this Act:
14        "Charity  care"  means  care  provided  by  a health care
15    provider for which the provider does not  expect  to  receive
16    payment from the patient or a third party payer.
17        "Community  benefits"  means  the  unreimbursed cost to a
18    hospital or health system of providing charity care, language
19    assistant  services,  government-sponsored  indigent   health
20    care,     donations,     volunteer    services,    education,
21    government-sponsored   program   services,   research,    and
22    subsidized   health   services   and  collecting  bad  debts.
23    "Community benefits" does not include the cost of paying  any
24    taxes or other governmental assessments.
25        "Government  sponsored  indigent  health  care" means the
26    unreimbursed cost to a hospital or health system of Medicare,
27    providing health care services to recipients of Medicaid, and
28    other federal, State, or local indigent health care programs,
29    eligibility for which is based on financial need.
30        "Health system" means an entity that owns or operates  at
 
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 1    least one hospital.
 2        "Nonprofit  hospital"  means a hospital that is organized
 3    as   a    nonprofit    corporation,    including    religious
 4    organizations,  or  a  charitable trust under Illinois law or
 5    the laws of any other state or country.
 6        "Subsidized  health  services"   means   those   services
 7    provided  by  a  hospital  in response to community needs for
 8    which the reimbursement is less than the hospital's  cost  of
 9    providing  the  services  that  must  be  subsidized by other
10    hospital or  nonprofit  supporting  entity  revenue  sources.
11    "Subsidized health services" includes, but is not limited to,
12    emergency and trauma care, neonatal intensive care, community
13    health   clinics,   and   collaborative  efforts  with  local
14    government or private agencies to prevent illness and improve
15    wellness, such as immunization programs.

16        Section 15. Organizational mission  statement;  community
17    benefits plan. A nonprofit hospital shall develop:
18             (1)  an   organizational   mission   statement  that
19        identifies  the  hospital's  commitment  to  serving  the
20        health care needs of the community; and
21             (2)  a  community  benefits  plan  defined   as   an
22        operational  plan for serving the community's health care
23        needs that:
24                  (A)  sets  out   goals   and   objectives   for
25             providing  community  benefits  that include charity
26             care and government sponsored indigent health  care;
27             and
28                  (B)  identifies the populations and communities
29             served by the hospital.

30        Section 20. Annual report for community benefits plan.
31        (a)  Each  nonprofit  hospital  shall  prepare  an annual
32    report of  the  community  benefits  plan.  The  report  must
 
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 1    include,  in  addition to the community benefits plan itself,
 2    all of the following background information:
 3             (1)  The hospital's mission statement.
 4             (2)  A disclosure of the health care  needs  of  the
 5        community   that   were   considered  in  developing  the
 6        hospital's community benefits plan.
 7             (3)  A  disclosure  of  the  amount  and  types   of
 8        community  benefits  actually provided, including charity
 9        care. Charity care must be reported separate  from  other
10        community   benefits.  In  reporting  charity  care,  the
11        hospital  must  report  the  actual  cost   of   services
12        provided, based on the total cost to charge ratio derived
13        from  the  hospital's  Medicare  cost report (CMS 2552-96
14        Worksheet C, Part  1,  PPS  Inpatient  Ratios),  not  the
15        charges for the services.
16             (4)  Audited  annual  financial reports for its most
17        recently completed fiscal year.
18        (b)  Each nonprofit hospital shall annually file a report
19    of the community benefits plan with the Attorney General. The
20    report must be filed not later than the last day of the sixth
21    month  after  the  close  of  the  hospital's  fiscal   year,
22    beginning with the hospital fiscal year that ends in 2004.
23        (c)  Each  nonprofit  hospital  shall prepare a statement
24    that notifies the  public  that  the  annual  report  of  the
25    community benefits plan is:
26             (1)  public information;
27             (2)  filed with the Attorney General; and
28             (3)  available  to  the  public  on request from the
29        Attorney General.
30        This statement shall be made available to the public.
31        (d)  The obligations of a hospital under this Act, except
32    for the filing of its audited financial  report,  shall  take
33    effect  beginning with the hospital's fiscal year that begins
34    after the effective date of this Act.  Within 60 days of  the
 
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 1    effective date of this Act, a hospital shall file the audited
 2    annual  financial report that has been completed for its most
 3    recently completed fiscal year.  Thereafter, a hospital shall
 4    include its audited annual  financial  report  for  its  most
 5    recently  completed  fiscal  year in its annual report of its
 6    community benefits plan.

 7        Section 25.  Failure to file annual report. The  Attorney
 8    General  may  assess  a  late  filing fee against a nonprofit
 9    hospital that  fails  to  make  a  report  of  the  community
10    benefits  plan as required under this Act in an amount not to
11    exceed $100.  The Attorney General may grant  extensions  for
12    good  cause.  No  penalty  may be assessed against a hospital
13    under this Section until 30 business days have elapsed  after
14    written notification to the hospital of its failure to file a
15    report.

16        Section  30.  Other  rights  and  remedies  retained. The
17    rights and remedies provided for in this Act are in  addition
18    to other statutory or common law rights or remedies available
19    to the State.

20        Section  40.  Home  rule.   A  home  rule  unit  may  not
21    regulate   hospitals   in  a  manner  inconsistent  with  the
22    provisions of this Act.  This Section is a  limitation  under
23    subsection  (i)  of  Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois
24    Constitution on the concurrent exercise by home rule units of
25    powers and functions exercised by the State.

26        Section 99. Effective date.  This Act takes  effect  upon
27    becoming law.