us

Legislative Day 2014IRS Regulations on Charitable Care

Section 501(r) imposes four new requirements for nonprofit hospital organizations that operate one or more hospital facilities to be afforded their 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status:

• 501(r)(3) Community Health Needs Assessment—CHNA• 501(r)(4) Financial Assistance Policy• 501(r)(5) Limitation on Charges• 501(r)(6) Billing and Collections

Issue:If hospitals have effectively communicated their Financial Assistance Policy (FAP), the proposed 120-day notification period allows sufficient time for completion of a FAP application. Adding a second 120-day period that precludes collection actions requiring a legal or judicial process will inhibit collections from patients with resources available to pay rightly owed balances.

Issue:Emergency Care Policy (EMCP) requirements both duplicate and conflict with federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) requirements.

Issue:Requirements to demonstrate “reasonable efforts” are unnecessarily burdensome and will increase costs without increasing access to care or benefiting the patient.

Issue:The regulations appear to require that financial assistance for the insured may be provided only if the Amounts Generally Billed (AGB) is applied. Requiring that assistance for the insured is provided at the same level as the uninsured would create confusion and misapplication of the standard.

AAHAM’s Recommendation:

WAIT………

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act:Key Issues and FCC Developments

Mark W. BrennanApril 24, 2014

Overview of the TCPA (cont’d)Wireless rules increasingly important, particularly when serving younger Americans.

Overview of the TCPA (cont’d)TCPA Violations Can Be Costly• Minimum statutory damages of $500 per call.• Statutory damages of $1,500 per call for knowingor willful violations.

• Class actions allowed, with no cap on damages or de minimis exception: – 1,000 calls = at least $500,000, potentially $1.5 million

FCC Developments (cont’d)

• More than 30 parties have filed petitions asking the FCC to clarify issues:

– Autodialer definition– Which party is the “caller”– Disclosure rules– The status of reassigned wireless numbers– Applicability of fax cover sheet requirements