Advocacy and Public Policies Related to Community Benefit

The provision of community benefit is the basis of tax-exemption of not-for-profit hospitals. Health care organizations are exempt from federal taxes as charitable organizations under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The Internal Revenue Service describes its expectation of tax-exempt hospitals in its Revenue Ruling 69-545, known as the community benefit standard.

In recent years, policy makers have questioned whether the community benefit standard is adequate and whether not-for profit hospitals and other health care organizations are sufficiently charitable to deserve tax-exemption. CHA strongly supports the community benefit standard and welcomes the opportunity to show how Catholic health care organizations continue to fulfill their charitable tax-exempt purpose.

The IRS released a revised Form 990. The revision includes a new schedule, Schedule H, which hospitals must use to report their community benefit activities and other tax-exemption related information. The new schedule is based on CHA's community benefit reporting guidelines.

Additional Advocacy and Public Policy Resources
In the community benefit advocacy and public policy section of this site, you'll find:

• Federal and state tax exemption of not-for-profit health care resources
  Includes the Revenue Ruling 69-545, a comparison of state community benefit laws, CHA's guidelines, and information on IRS and Senate Finance Committee activities.
• CHA community benefit-related advocacy examples
  Includes CHA's congressional testimony, responses to congressional inquiries, and a new publication, Beyond Charity Care: Mission Matters for Tax-Exempt Health Care, which describes the significant contribution of mission-driven tax-exempt hospitals and health care systems that goes well beyond the provision of traditional charity care.

For additional information on CHA's advocacy efforts, visit our advocacy section.