However, safety-net hospitals serve a significant number of Medicare, Medicaid, and uninsured patients, and therefore, are heavily dependent on underfunded government payers, and are heavily burdened by uncompensated care. At the same time, the overall cost of providing care has increased substantially in recent years, driven by increasing costs for staffing, prescription drugs, technology, and infrastructure.
For all of these reasons, the General Assembly finds that the long-term sustainability of safety-net hospitals is threatened. While the General Assembly is providing funding to the Department to be paid to support the expenses of specific safety-net hospitals in State Fiscal Year 2023, such annual, ad hoc funding is not a reliable and stable source of funding that will enable safety-net hospitals to develop strategies to achieve long term sustainability. Such annual, ad hoc funding also does not provide the State with transparency and accountability to ensure that such funding is being used effectively and efficiently to maximize the benefit to members of the community.
Therefore, it is the intent of the General Assembly that the Department of Public Health and the Department of Healthcare and Family Services jointly provide options and recommendations to the General Assembly by February 1, 2023, for the establishment of a permanent Safety-Net Hospital Health Equity and Access Leadership (HEAL) Grant Program, in accordance with this Section. It is the intention of the General Assembly that during State fiscal years 2024 through 2029, the Safety-Net Hospital Health Equity and Access Leadership (HEAL) Grant Program shall be supported by an annual funding pool of up to $100,000,000, subject to appropriation.
20 ILCS 2310/2310-715