UCMC: Where did all the money go?

Over 150 students, workers, medical professionals, patients, activists, and local residents came out last week to an open town hall meeting organized by the Coalition for Healthcare Access Responsibility and Transparency (CHART), of which SSN is a member. The lively discussion included the revelation that although the UofC Medical Center receives around $58 million every year in tax breaks, it only spends $10 million on the charity care that is supposed to justify them. As Heather O'Donnell (Policy Director, Center for Tax and Budget Accountability) remarked, the UCMC's standard response - that it needs the extra money to cover its losses on Medicaid patients - is simply an attempt to muddy the water. Although it is true that hospitals take a hit on Medicaid patients, Illinois law clearly states that tax breaks are specifically intended to cover charity care only. All healthcare providers suffer from the broken Medicaid system whether they get tax breaks or not, so the UCMC cannot use Medicaid losses as an excuse for failing in its charity care obligations. To read the full CTBA report, click here.