AHA comments on legislation adding reporting requirements for nonprofit hospitals

The AHA provided a statement June 30 to the House Ways and Means Committee in advance of a markup July 1 where the committee will consider legislation that would add reporting requirements for hospitals' Schedule H IRS forms. While the House has been dismissed for the July 4 holiday, the Ways and Means Committee, as of today, is still scheduled to proceed with the hearing on July 1. The AHA said that the Tax-Exempt Hospital Transparency Act (H.R. 9504), while improved from a previous draft, does not yet strike the right balance.

The AHA highlighted the removal of the parallel for-profit tax calculation, the inclusion of standardized definitions and the extension of implementation deadlines, among other provisions, as "steps toward a slightly less burdensome framework" than what was included in the original discussion draft. The AHA said it maintains serious concerns and questions on remaining provisions in the bill, which the association said would impact nearly two-thirds of all hospitals by imposing substantial administrative and financial burdens.

"We believe the focus on financial assistance, to the exclusion of other critical components of community benefit - like Medicaid shortfall - disregards tax-exempt hospitals' already extensive reporting and the many other ways hospitals serve their communities," the AHA wrote. "While the statutory carve-outs protect small facilities from the advanced requirements, these hospitals, which are often among the most financially vulnerable, must still eventually implement new reporting requirements."

The AHA also addressed burdens regarding 340B reporting and other requirements.