Illinois-based Advocate settles with uninsured patients

Advocate Health Care, the Chicago area's largest provider of medical care, has reached an agreement on providing free and discounted medical care to uninsured patients as part of a class action lawsuit it has been battling. Under the settlement, which an Advocate spokeswoman said still has to be approved by a Cook County Circuit Court judge, the hospital operator would provide charity care assistance to individuals earning up to 400% of the federal poverty level or $82,500 for a family of four. Advocate operates eight hospitals in the Chicago area.