Public hospital CEO says ACA helped system break even for first time

John Gregory | | Health Exec | Management

According to Cook County Health & Hospitals Systems CEO Jay Shannon, MD, the system was always in the red until the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of Medicaid.

“The health system has been able to break even for the first time in our history,” he said in an interview with the Associated Press. “It has been an increase in revenue to the system of somewhere between $200 million and $300 million a year for the past three years.”

That history dates back 180 years, with the system now encompassing more than a dozen community clinics along with two hospitals. Before the ACA expanded coverage in 2014, Shannon said about 70 percent of their patients were uninsured. Three years ago, there’s been a drastic shift, with about the same percentage of patients having coverage.

Read the full interview at the link below: 

Insider Q&A: Public health system CEO sweats out ACA debate

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John Gregory, Senior Writer

John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.

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