Groups comment on charity care proposal
6/2/2009
Independent Sector Daily Policy Digest
The charity care proposal in the Senate Finance Committee options paper on financing healthcare reform suffers from a “failure to realize that the needs of each community are different” and that threatening nonprofit hospitals with penalties would only “hurt those hospitals that serve specific community needs,” according to comments submitted to the Committee by IS member the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP). Separately, IS member the American Hospital Association (AHA) issued an “Advocacy Alert” to its members May 28, urging them to contact members of Congress to explain the risks of including a uniform charity-care formula as part of a legislative proposal for healthcare reform. Experts familiar with the exempt hospital and charity care debate said the organizations have some “valid points” about the burden of a set minimum charity care standard would place on tax-exempt hospitals. The Senate Finance Committee is expected to mark-up health reform legislation this month. Source: BNA Daily Tax Report