Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, has called for reforms in not-for-profit hospitals’ reporting of charity care information to the IRS. His comments came after findings from an in-depth survey showed that despite the billions in tax breaks they receive, not-for-profits may provide less care for the poor than for-profit hospitals. The survey, sent in May 2005 to 10 major not-for-profit hospitals, showed that not-for-profits may charge poor, uninsured patients more than insured patients for the same services while providing executives with high compensation and perks such as country club memberships.
In a statement issued on the eve of Senate Finance Committee hearings examining the issue, Grassley, who chairs the committee, noted that not-for-profits aren’t subject to any IRS reporting requirements concerning charity care and community benefit. He said the IRS is creating a supplemental report to Form 990 for not-for-profit hospitals to disclose more information about their charity care and community benefit activities. He suggested that the new report conform to recent guidelines the Catholic Health Association has established on reporting and measuring key parts of community benefit for its member hospitals. “We need to see IRS action on this front,” he said.
