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March 18, 2010 12:00 AM

Ill. Supreme Court rules against Provena

Gregg Blesch
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    Ending a widely watched seven-year dispute, the Illinois Supreme Court has agreed with the state's decision to strip 202-bed Provena Covenant Medical Center of its property tax exemption.

    “We can only hope this troubling ruling prompts a dialogue among hospitals and elected officials about not only how we define charity care but also how we better ensure that the people who need financial assistance get it,” David Bertauski, president and CEO of the Urbana, Ill., hospital, said in a written statement. “We will work to lead the way.”

    The court's opinion notes that its analysis is limited to the facts as they were in 2002, the year the hospital's exemption was challenged, and that state law confines the court's review to whether the administrative decision by the Illinois Revenue Department was clearly wrong. An appeals court sided with the state in 2008.

    Illinois Supreme Court Justice Lloyd Karmeier writes in the opinion at one point that if the number of poor, uninsured and underinsured residents in Provena Covenant's community was as insignificant as its charity care program, then there would be little reason for its parent, six-hospital Provena Health, to pursue its charitable mission there. “The only plausible explanation would be that its principal purposes in operating PCMC were, in reality, more temporal than it professes.”

    The hospital's charity care, Karmeier writes, “was often illusory” because low-income patients were granted discounts of 25% or 50% off rates that were double the hospital's cost.

    Nor was the court persuaded by arguments that the hospital removes a burden from other government agencies. Karmeier writes that none of the taxing bodes that collect revenue from Champaign County property taxes are in the business of providing healthcare, and the hospital's exemption from state and federal taxes was not at issue.

    What do you think? Post a comment on this article and share your opinion with other readers. Submit your letter to Modern Healthcare Online at [email protected]. Please be sure to include your hometown and state, along with your organization and title.

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          • - Luminaries
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          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Women Leaders
          • - Women to Watch
      • Conferences
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        • ESG: The Implementation Imperative Summit
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        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
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        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
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        • - Value Based Care
        • - Hospital at Home
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        • - AI and Digital Health
        • - Future of Staffing
        • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
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