While the uninsured sometimes turn to emergency rooms for “free or lower priced care,” the question of how much hospitals can or should provide has remained open. The Illinois Supreme Court provided one answer last week. It upheld a decision to revoke tax-exempt status from Provena Covenant Medical Center in Urbana. The Illinois Department of Revenue had charged that the nonprofit hospital was not providing enough charity care to warrant big tax breaks. That decision has hospitals crying foul. But will it change the landscape of charity care? 

Richard Steele recently posed that question to The Chicago Tribune’s health reporter Bruce Japsen, and Japsen says it will have an impact.

Yesterday we heard from two politicians about the health care bill passed by the House. Illinois Republican Congressman Peter Roskam stuck to the party line and voted “no.” He thinks the new bill puts a burden on business. Our senior Senator Dick Durbin told us he supports the bill in part because sick children will not be denied coverage now on the basis of a pre-existing condition.

We also asked you to join the conversation. Here’s what some of you had to say —

Nora Murphy is excited about the Bill. She says her son, who has a rare childhood disease, will be able to get health care throughout his life. And for that she is so grateful.

Sei Jin Lee says he doesn’t think the bill will work financially but he hopes it’s a step towards a single payer system that will be better at controlling costs. He had the option for insurance at his job, but always opted out. Now, he says he’ll opt in.

What do you think about the Health Care Reform Bill?

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Music Button: Radio Citizen, “Density”, from the CD Berlin Serengeti, (Ubiquity)