Friday, August 31, 2007
Chicago Tribune

Pharmacies at Cook County-owned Provident and Oak Forest Hospitals on Sept. 4 will begin charging $3 co-pays for each prescription filled, up to a maximum of $10 per visit, the county's Bureau of Health Services announced Thursday.

The move will come three weeks after an identical program was implemented at Stroger Hospital and its adjacent Fantus Clinic. The co-pays will not be charged to patients who can't afford to pay them, county officials say.

The co-pays are another step being taken by the county to get its struggling health system's finances balanced. Officials expect the system will end the year with a $60 million deficit, despite massive cost-cutting earlier this year.

The county previously had considered a $1 co-pay after the Illinois Department of Public Aid instituted them in 2002, but the plan was later shelved.