American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (U.S. Stimulus Bill - H.R. 1)
Language that would have threatened U.S. Grateful Patient Programs is removed from the final U.S. Stimulus Bill (H.R.1)
On Friday 13, 2009, Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, commonly called "the stimulus package." AHP made an initial review of the final bill, and the outcome is good for health care philanthropy. The language of concern in the original House version of H.R.1, which would have denied hospital fundraisers access to grateful patient names and addresses, has been removed.
The Conference Committee, in a new section titled, Opportunity to Opt Out of Fundraising, included language that will strengthen the opt out requirements regarding written communications to grateful patients and their families. This language is consistent with the existing HIPAA requirements. In a separate section of the legislation, the Committee also included language that increases the penalties for HIPAA violators.
Read AHP's final analysis of H.R. 1
The efforts of AHP and our members have been a great success. Thank you to all who have supported our profession as we fought this important issue.
H.R. 1 Funds Allocations
The American Hospital Association (AHA) has developed two excellent reports that explain in detail the funding provisions of H.R. 1 and the Medicare payment incentives for hospitals that adopt electronic health records and certain health information technology (IT).
1) AHA H.R.1 Overview Report
2) AHA Medicare IT Incentives Report
*This report also provides a link to an MS Excel spreadsheet with a Medicare Incentive Payment Calculator to help your hospital estimate potential IT incentive payments. You may access this tool by using your hospital's AHA login information.
AHP continues to work closely with the American Hospital Association on legislative issues pertaining to non-profit hospitals and health care philanthropy and we extend our thanks to AHA for sharing these valuable tools with AHP's members.