Sen. Chuck Grassley has another go at 501(c)(3) hospitals

Sen. Chuck Grassley: there he goes again.  (Check out some of his other recent activities regarding tax-exempt hospitals.)  As Finance committee chairman, he’s put out a press release and discussion draft of potential non-profit hospital reforms.  The draft tees up the proposal thus:

The staff proposal recommends setting specific standards for hospitals that seek exemption under § 501(c)(3), including: (i) establishing a charity care policy and wide publication of that policy; (ii) quantitative standards for charity care; (iii) requirements for joint ventures between nonprofit hospitals and for-profit entities; (iv) board composition and other governance requirements and executive compensation; (v) limiting charges billed to the uninsured; (vi) placing restrictions on conversions; (vii) curtailing unfair billing and collection practices; (viii) transparency and accountability requirements; and, (ix) sanctions for failure to comply with applicable requirements for a 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) hospital.

The draft gets into some detail on each of these proposals.  Comments are invited over the next month.

Question to consider:  Should tax-exempt payors be subject to the same sort of scrutiny?

— David Harlow