There are 1.2 million people in the Cook County region living without insurance. Many of these people step foot in a hospital only during an emergency. Often times, they return home to find huge bills they cannot afford. These bills get sent to collection agencies, and in some cases, patients even
get taken to court because they could not afford to pay.

At the same time, most hospitals in the area are non-for-profit institutions. They receive benefits in exchange for providing free and reduced care to the uninsured in our community. However, they are not providing this free and reduced care. The APNC Health and Justice Committee has heard countless stories of community members from our churches, schools, mosques, and social service agencies going to the emergency room, receiving a bill, and never once being told by the hospital about the free and reduced care.

Now, a solution has been proposed. APNC along with members from the county-wide Fair Care Coalition have drafted  an ordinance  that was introduced in Cook County this summercalled the Hospital Access Initiative (HAPI).

• The ordinance sets a minimum limit for the amount of financial assistance local hospitals must provide to low-income, uninsured residents.

• The ordinance will help cut costs for Cook County Hospital.

• The ordinance improves the way that hospitals inform patients of the availability of financial assistance, to make aid much more accessible.

This ordinance would provide free and reduced access to for care for the uninsured to thousands of people in our community.

Click this link to send an email to our county commissioners asking them to support the HAPI ordinance.

Click here for a one-pager explaining the ordinance details.

Thank you!

APNC Health and Justice Committee:

Over the past few years, APNC leaders identified healthcare access as an issue that needs to be addressed. Leaders were going to the emergency room for life threatening situations, and left the hospitals with very expensive bills they simply could not afford to pay.

APNC found that Chicago non-profit hospitals received $300,000,000 in tax breaks in exchange for free and reduced emergency-room care. This program is called Charity Care. APNC leaders noted that during their hospital visits, they were often not informed about their right to Charity Care, yet the hospitals continue to receive these tax breaks.

During the last Get Out the Vote effort in 2006, APNC worked to win support for a referendum which Alderman Mell placed on the ballot in his ward stating that hospitals should be held accountable to their tax breaks and charity-care obligations. The referendum passed with an overwhelming 92% support in Albany Park.

APNC has been working in coalition with neighborhood organizations across cook county to push for reform of the broken charity care system in area hopsitals.

For more information about the Charity Care please contact Demian Kogan at (773) 583-1387 x 203 or at demian@apncorganzing.org