SB1840 Summary

• Amends the Community Benefits Act to require nonprofit hospitals to include in their community benefits plans activities addressing health equity, health disparities, and community health through workforce diversity, local procurement, cultural competency training, and partnerships addressing social needs like food and housing.

• Modifies the Hospital Uninsured Patient Discount Act to lower the service charge threshold from $300 to $150 for non-rural hospitals and reduce the maximum collectible amount from 25% to 20% of family income in a 12-month period.

• Extends the application deadline for uninsured discounts from 60 to 90 days after discharge and requires hospitals to offer referrals from community health centers and free clinics the opportunity to apply for financial assistance when services are scheduled.

• Requires hospitals to publish annual community benefits reports on their websites, including charity care costs, financial assistance application data disaggregated by race, ethnicity, sex, and language, and emergency department charity care as a subset of total charity care.

• Mandates that hospital financial assistance applications include optional demographic questions and complaint information directing patients to report concerns to the Illinois Attorney General's Health Care Bureau, which must publish annual enforcement data.