Story thread · 2 reports / 2 sources

Cook County predicts charity care will soar to highest level in more than a decade

suntimes.com · 11dShare

Cook County Health expects to provide around $485 million in free or discounted care next year, returning to an era before the Affordable Care Act insured millions more Americans than it does today. That’s about $100 million more in what’s known as charity care than the county expects to provide this year, and the largest amount in more than a decade. What’s largely driving this is people losing health insurance — people with low incomes in particular. That’s less money flowing to Cook County Health, which mostly treats poor and immigrant patients at its two hospitals, John H. Stroger Jr. and Provident, and more than a dozen community health centers. In 2027, the health system expects about 30% of its patients to be uninsured — more than double a 13% low in 2023. Dr. Erik Mikaitis, CEO of Cook County Health, sees the ripple effects reaching beyond the hospitals and health centers he oversees into communities and even into businesses, when sick people can’t work. “If you don’t have insu

First report: Cook County predicts charity care will soar to highest level in more than a decade — wbez.org, 11d