Waukegan, Ill., 10/04/07--The identification of the dollars that go to charity care have been a hot topic and one that can be very deceiving. As a for-profit entity, many of the current discussions and political debate surrounding this topic do not apply to Vista Health System. However, Vista still maintains an aggressive charity care policy and is pleased to release the current status of its charity care program.
Current charity care figures show that Vista Health System will give over $16 million in charity care this year. That is an excess of $1.4 million, per month, in uncompensated care to the financially and medically indigent. Those figures show that Vista is giving over 10% of its estimated net income, in 2007, to charity care.
The policy at Vista Health System is that any applicant, who meets specific criteria, will receive charity care services, as is current policy since February of 2006. There are two identified avenues for an applicant to receive charity care; the financially indigent and the medically indigent. The financially indigent are people who are uninsured and fall at or below 200% of the current Federal Poverty Level. By contrast, the medically indigent are people who, after payments by 3rd party vendors, face bills in excess of 50% of their annual gross income.
Additionally, Vista Health System dedicates significant funds to HealthReach, Lake County’s clinic for the medically underserved. HealthReach has multiple facilities in Lake County and survives on donated funds, goods and services. In 2006, Vista donated over $2.4 million to HealthReach. Today, the 2007 pace of donations continues at a rapid rate and allows Vista to remain as one of the few healthcare entities financially beneficial to HealthReach.
Vista Health System is also Lake County’s number one provider to Medicaid patients. When examining insurance claims, we find that 29% of the patients treated by the Vista family of medical services are using Medicaid as their insurance provider. Recent reports, by Compdata show that the next closest Lake County Hospital in Medicaid filings is Condell, at 10 %, and Lake Forest Hospital weighs in at 3%.
As a for-profit institution, Vista is also responsible for making significant tax payments to government entities. On average, Vista pays approximately $8 million in taxes. These dollars are a very significant benefit for our local roads, schools and public safety. |