The Illinois Supreme Court has upheld the state’s decision to take away the tax-exempt status of Provena Covenant Medical Center, agreeing that the Catholic hospital hadn’t provided enough charity care.
The state argued that Provena had provided free or discounted care to only 302 patients out of 10,000, spending only 0.7 percent of its $113 million in revenues, according to the National Law Journal. (Subscription required.)
Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) have joined together to crack down on tax-exempt hospitals that fail to treat patients without insurance, according to The Hill newspaper. Grassley has been a strong proponent of ensuring tax-exempt hospitals provide enough care to low-income and uninsured patients to merit the tax breaks the hospitals get.
