Unreimbursed care increased 43 percent, charity care nearly 72 percent in fiscal year 2008

Rush University Medical Center and its affiliated Rush Oak Park Hospital provided more than $172 million in community benefits in fiscal year 2008 – an increase of 27 percent over the previous year.

The majority of that money – $113 million – covered costs for much needed but unreimbursed care, including charity care, which totaled almost $9 million, up 72 percent from $5.1 million in fiscal year 2007, and subsidized care for Medicare and Medicaid patients. Rush is among the top 10 hospital providers of Medicaid days in the state.

“We strongly believe that quality health care should be accessible to everyone. When people come to Rush, they can be certain that they will receive the absolute best care, even if they can’t afford to pay for treatment,” said Dr. Larry Goodman, president and CEO of Rush University Medical Center. “Rush’s commitment to the community is long-standing and has grown to include many hundreds of students, faculty and employees involved with a wide range of programs to better the health and well-being of the communities surrounding Rush.”

As a nonprofit organization, after paying expenses, Rush reinvests any excess revenue back in the organization to subsidize research and education and to pay for capital, such as new equipment and building repairs. Rush also allocates a significant portion of this money to services that benefit patients: free care for patients who cannot pay, subsidized care for patients whose government insurance does not cover all of Rush’s costs, and critical medical services that operate at a financial loss but are necessary for community health overall.

The community investment by Rush in fiscal year 2008 included the following:

• $113 million in unreimbursed care, including charity care and financial assistance, care that was not paid for (forgiven debt) and care not reimbursed by Medicare and Medicaid;
  
• $36 million to subsidize the education and training of future doctors, nurses and allied health professionals;
  
• $10 million for research not covered by private donations or government grants to help advance medical treatments;
  
• $8 million in subsidized health services that are operated at a financial loss but which are necessary to address community needs such as pediatric, primary and palliative care; and
• $4.5 million, including volunteer services and outright donations, for numerous in-hospital and neighborhood service projects, such as free heart disease and prostate cancer screenings and health education programs, many of them in collaboration with neighborhood clinics, shelters, churches and schools.

The figures do not include the dollar value of the care provided by physicians, nurses and students who participated in various community service programs, such as clinics in homeless shelters, since these individuals volunteered their time.

The Rush Community Benefits report is available online at www.rush.edu/Rush_Document/CBR%2009.pdf. To obtain a printed version of the Community Benefits brochure, call 312-942-5579.