In Illinois, and no..not about what you might assume

Broadcast ads highly critical of how non-profit Catholic hospitals handle their billing and collection practices are helping spotlight Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s efforts to tighten regulations on all non-profit hospitals.

Madigan is pushing legislation in Springfield for the first time to set standards for charity care and billing and collection practices at tax-exempt Illinois hospitals.

The radio and television ads, paid for by Indiana-based non-profit Fairness Foundation.org, chastise Catholic hospitals, alleging they’re falling short on meeting the obligations required to maintain their tax-exempt status.

"It’s a sad day when the Illinois attorney general has to tell not-for-profit Catholic hospitals, among others, they aren’t doing enough to earn their tax- exempt status," says the ad. It concludes: "but as with other immoral actions, apparently the church needs to be forced by lawyers to do the right thing, to be moral. How sad."

Another ad accuses the hospitals of "putting profit over mission. . . .Catholic hospitals need to return to their charitable mission, providing affordable health care, or start paying taxes."

Catholic and other hospitals in Illinois and across the country have been criticized over their collection practices. They’ve also been criticized for charging the uninsured higher rates than Medicare recipients, whose bills are paid by federal and local governments, and individuals with private insurance, who have the clout to negotiate cheaper rates.

Joe Novack, a consultant for the Fairness Foundation, said the group has invested $140,000 on the ads in Chicago and $90,000 on similar ads that are running in Washington, D.C.

The group is backed by J. Patrick Rooney, who a few years ago sold his Golden Rule Insurance Co. to UnitedHealth Group. Rooney, a long-time supporter of health savings accounts, operates a private health insurance company that has battled with hospitals over their billing practices.