Transcript Slide 1

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Legislative Day 2014
IRS 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)
• 501(r)(4)
• 501(r)(5)
• 501(r)(6)
Community Health Needs
Assessment—CHNA
Financial Assistance Policy
Limitation on Charges
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. Brennan
April 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 knowing
or 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