(305 ILCS 5/5-5e.1)

Sec. 5-5e.1. Safety-Net Hospitals.

(a) A Safety-Net Hospital is an Illinois hospital that:

(1) is licensed by the Department of Public Health as a general acute care or pediatric hospital; and

(2) is a disproportionate share hospital, as described in Section 1923 of the federal Social Security Act, as determined by the Department; and

(3) meets one of the following:

(A) has a MIUR of at least 40% and a charity percent of at least 4%; or

(B) has a MIUR of at least 50%.

(b) Definitions. As used in this Section:

(1) "Charity percent" means the ratio of (i) the hospital's charity charges for services provided to individuals without health insurance or another source of third party coverage to (ii) the Illinois total hospital charges, each as reported on the hospital's OBRA form.

(2) "MIUR" means Medicaid Inpatient Utilization Rate and is defined as a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of a hospital's inpatient days provided in the hospital's fiscal year ending 3 years prior to the rate year, to patients who, for such days, were eligible for Medicaid under Title XIX of the federal Social Security Act, 42 USC 1396a et seq., excluding those persons eligible for medical assistance pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1396a(a)(10)(A)(i)(VIII) as set forth in paragraph 18 of Section 5-2 of this Article, and the denominator of which is the total number of the hospital's inpatient days in that same period, excluding those persons eligible for medical assistance pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1396a(a)(10)(A)(i)(VIII) as set forth in paragraph 18 of Section 5-2 of this Article.

(3) "OBRA form" means form HFS-3834, OBRA '93 data collection form, for the rate year.

(4) "Rate year" means the 12-month period beginning on October 1.

(c) Beginning July 1, 2012 and ending on December 31, 2026, a hospital that would have qualified for the rate year beginning October 1, 2011 or October 1, 2012 shall be a Safety-Net Hospital.

(c-5) Beginning July 1, 2020 and ending on December 31, 2026, a hospital that would have qualified for the rate year beginning October 1, 2020 and was designated a federal rural referral center under 42 CFR 412.96 as of October 1, 2020 shall be a Safety-Net Hospital.

(d) No later than August 15 preceding the rate year, each hospital shall submit the OBRA form to the Department. Prior to October 1, the Department shall notify each hospital whether it has qualified as a Safety-Net Hospital.

(e) The Department may promulgate rules in order to implement this Section.

(f) Nothing in this Section shall be construed as limiting the ability of the Department to include the Safety-Net Hospitals in the hospital rate reform mandated by Section 14-11 of this Code and implemented under Section 14-12 of this Code and by administrative rulemaking.

(Source: P.A. 101-650, eff. 7-7-20; 101-669, eff. 4-2-21; 102-886, eff. 5-17-22.)