This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish new, stricter community benefit standards for tax-exempt hospital organizations. To retain their tax-exempt status, hospitals must now ensure their board of directors is drawn from the community and commit to treating patients covered by public programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, without imposing limits on their numbers. A key requirement mandates that these hospitals spend an amount equal to or exceeding 100 percent of their Federal, State, and local tax exemptions on specific qualifying activities, such as training, education, or research aimed at improving patient care, certain improvements to facilities and equipment, or providing free or discounted care through a financial assistance policy. However, facility improvement expenditures are capped at 50 percent of the minimum spending requirement, and acquiring other healthcare organizations does not count towards this threshold. The legislation also specifies that patients eligible for financial assistance must be billed according to Medicare rates. To ensure compliance, the bill mandates annual reviews by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration on hospital financial assistance policies and periodic reports by the Comptroller General on the Internal Revenue Service's enforcement of these new community benefit standards.
Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Taxation
Holding Nonprofit Hospitals Accountable Act
USA119th CongressHR-3019| House
| Updated: 4/24/2025
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish new, stricter community benefit standards for tax-exempt hospital organizations. To retain their tax-exempt status, hospitals must now ensure their board of directors is drawn from the community and commit to treating patients covered by public programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, without imposing limits on their numbers. A key requirement mandates that these hospitals spend an amount equal to or exceeding 100 percent of their Federal, State, and local tax exemptions on specific qualifying activities, such as training, education, or research aimed at improving patient care, certain improvements to facilities and equipment, or providing free or discounted care through a financial assistance policy. However, facility improvement expenditures are capped at 50 percent of the minimum spending requirement, and acquiring other healthcare organizations does not count towards this threshold. The legislation also specifies that patients eligible for financial assistance must be billed according to Medicare rates. To ensure compliance, the bill mandates annual reviews by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration on hospital financial assistance policies and periodic reports by the Comptroller General on the Internal Revenue Service's enforcement of these new community benefit standards.