The chief executive officer of Taylorville Memorial Hospital, Kim Bourne, was the guest speaker at the weekly meeting of the Taylorville Kiwanis club Tuesday at the T-M-H auditorium.
Bourne outlined the status of health care in the United States, and where it could be going.  She said the health care industry has been tasked with taking care of people's health, while at the same time spending less money and helping people to be healthier.  She added the Affordable Care Act enrollment is now less than 50-percent nationally and imploding, with several major insurers pulling out of state exchanges in Illinois and thru-out the country.

Bourne added that Blue Cross Blue Shield's Illinois exchange insurance premium for next year, will be up some 75-percent, and she said the country is on a path toward a single payer system with the government in control.
Bourne said that on the local level, Taylorville Memorial Hospital is owed over a million dollars from the state, in past due bills the state hasn't paid, and that T-M-H has provided some 5-point-2 million dollars in charity health care over the past year.
Despite these numbers, Bourne said that T-M-H is in healthy financial shape.
The Taylorville Kiwanis Club is part of global organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the world one child and one community at a time.  Weekly meetings are held Tuesdays at noon at the Taylorville Memorial Hospital auditorium.  For information on the club, go to taylorvillekiwanis.com.