Illinois Hospital Association

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Charity Care/Community Benefit - Tools and Information
  1. Take Action
    1. Value of Community Benefits Provided by Illinois Hospitals (May 2008)
    2. Caring for Their Communities: A Comprehensive Report on the Community Benefits Provided by Tax-Exempt Hospitals in the Metropolitan Chicago Region (MCHC, 8/07)
    3. In Support of Hospital Property Tax Exemption (11/7/06)
    4. Hospital Charity Care: Working Toward a Reasonable Approach (11/7/06)
    5. Suggested Hospital Talking Points (password required) (11/7/06)
    6. IHA Analysis of Flawed Report on Hospitals' Tax-Exempt Value and Charity Care
      - Press Release: Report Acknowledges Hospitals Provide Community Benefits More Than Five Times Their Tax-Exempt Value 
  1. Raising Awareness of Your Community Hospital’s Value
    1. IHA Community Benefits Report - Illinois Hospitals Serving Their Communities: It's More Than Just a Job... It's a Way of Life (July 2008)
    2. Underpayment by Medicare and Medicaid Fact Sheet (American Hospital Association - Oct. 2007)
    3. Uncompensated Hospital Care Cost Fact Sheet (American Hospital Association - Oct. 2007)
    4. IHA Letter on Hospital Community Benefits (Daily Southtown 9/20/07)
    5. Illinois Hospitals’ Role and Benefit to the Community
      A statement of the IHA Task Force on Charity and Tax Exemption - March 2005.
    6. Strengthening Relationships with Your Legislators: A Mini-Residency
      A series of documents that provides information on how to educate and familiarize your elected officials about emerging issues facing hospitals, as well as the benefit to the community your facility provides. The program can also be used to educate other community leaders.
    7. Telling Your Hospital’s Story in Illinois
      Sample press release, letter to the editor and guest column that can be tailored and submitted to your local media outlets.
    8. Valuable Insights to Minimize Challenges on Charity and Tax Exemption
      A memo outlining best practices for hospitals presented at an IHA seminar.
    9. American Hospital Association (AHA members only - requires password from AHA)
      A sample toolkit to help hospitals tell their story to their community.
    10. American Hospital Association
      Information to help the public understand what hospitals do for their community.
       
  2. Illinois Community Benefits Act
    1. Value of Community Benefits Provided by Illinois Hospitals (May 2008)
    2. Caring for Their Communities: A Comprehensive Report on the Community Benefits Provided by Tax-Exempt Hospitals in the Metropolitan Chicago Region (MCHC, 8/07)
    3. Community Benefits Act: June 30, 2005 Filing and Public Notice
      A memo on filing of required annual report and public notice that these reports are available.
    4. Community Benefits Act: Report Form
      Annual reporting form for the Illinois Community Benefits Act.
    5. Community Benefits Act: Compliance Instructions
      Instructions issued by the Illinois Attorney General’s office in February 2004.
    6. Community Benefits Act: Reporting in Illinois - Definitions and Standards for Reporting
      A memo regarding what types of benefits to count and how Illinois law differs from CHA/VHA report definitions. The memo includes the June 2004 CHA/VHA report.
    7. Illinois Community Benefits Act 210 ILCS 76/1
      A document providing legislative language on the Illinois Community Benefits Act.

     

  3. Community Benefit Resources
    1. IHA Community Benefits Report - Illinois Hospitals Serving Their Communities: It's More Than Just a Job... It's a Way of Life (July 2008)
    2. Value of Community Benefits Provided by Illinois Hospitals (May 2008)
    3. AHA's Community Connections Case Example Booklet Highlights IHA Member Hospitals (Jan. 2008)
    4. Associations Challenge Assessor's Valuation of Tax-Exempt Hospitals in Cook County (11/6/07)
    5. Care in Action: How the People and Programs of America's Tax-Exempt Hospitals Benefit Their Communities Every Day (AHA, Oct. 2007)
    6. Underpayment by Medicare and Medicaid Fact Sheet (American Hospital Association - Oct. 2007)
    7. Uncompensated Hospital Care Cost Fact Sheet (American Hospital Association - Oct. 2007)
    8. Caring for Their Communities: A Comprehensive Report on the Community Benefits Provided by Tax-Exempt Hospitals in the Metropolitan Chicago Region (MCHC, 8/07)
    9. IHA Letter to Sen. Grassley re: Tax-Exempt Hospitals (10/5/07)
      - U.S. Senate Committee on Finance - Minority Staff Draft Paper on Tax-Exempt Hospitals
    10. AHA Sends Report on Community Benefit to the IRS (AHA News Now, Nov. 27, 2006)
    11. AHA Guidance on Reporting of Community Benefit
    12. Beyond Health Care: The Economic Contribution of Hospitals (AHA, July 2006 Update)
    13. Association for Community Health Improvements
      The Association for Community Health Improvements provides tools and methods to improve community benefit practices.
    14. Catholic Health Association of the United States
      One of the forerunners in developing community benefits reporting, the Catholic Health Association of the United States’ web site provides access to their guidelines and books.
    15. Lyon Software
      Community Benefits/Social Accountability Software developed in conjunction with CHAUSA guidelines.
       
  4. Charity Care
    1. Preparing for the New IRS 990: It's No Longer Just a Finance Document (6/3/08)
    2. IHA Comment Letter on IRS Form 990 (5/29/08)
    3. Value of Community Benefits Provided by Illinois Hospitals (May 2008)
    4. Technical Bulletin 309: Hill-Burton Program Income Qualification Guidelines
      Federal Poverty Guidelines often used in hospital financial assistance policies. The guidelines are updated annually.
    5. IHA's Provena Appellate Court Amicus Brief (1/29/08)
    6. Final Revised Draft of IRS Form 990 (1/10/08)
    7. Associations Challenge Assessor's Valuation of Tax-Exempt Hospitals in Cook County (11/6/07)
    8. Care in Action: How the People and Programs of America's Tax-Exempt Hospitals Benefit Their Communities Every Day (AHA, Oct. 2007)
    9. IHA Letter on Hospital Community Benefits (Daily Southtown 9/20/07)
    10. IHA Comment Letter for the Proposed New IRS Form 990 Schedule H (8/9/07)
      - Comment Period on New Proposed Form 990 and Schedule H (7/12/07)
    11. Judge Rules in Provena's Favor on Tax Exemption (7/23/07)
    12. Details of New Law (HB 4999) - Fair Patient Billing Act
    13. Background Information on Opposing Attorney General's Charity Care & Billing Proposals (2006) (links to editorials, etc.)
    14. HFMA Issues Guidelines for Reporting Charity Care and Bad Debt (AHA News Now, 12/5/06)
    15. In Support of Hospital Property Tax Exemption (11/7/06)
    16. Hospital Charity Care: Working Toward a Reasonable Approach (11/7/06)
    17. Suggested Hospital Talking Points (password required) (11/7/06)
    18. Provena Covenant Appeals Tax-Exemption Decision (10/26/06)
      - Provena Press Release
      - IHA Summary of Provena Decision  (password required)
       - Press Release: IHA Statement on Dept. of Revenue's Provena Covenant Medical Center Decision
      - Dept. of Revenue's Decision on Provena Covenant Medical Center
    19. Chicago Sun-Times Editorial: To Put it Charitably, Hospital Proposal Isn't Fair (6/7/06)
    20. All Charity Care Should be Considered (Daily Herald - 6/3/06)
    21. Transcript of Ken Robbins on WTTW's Chicago Tonight on Charity Care/Tax-Exemption (5/30/06)
    22. IHA Analysis of Flawed Report on Hospitals' Tax-Exempt Value and Charity Care (5/30/06) 
      - Press Release: Report Acknowledges Hospitals Provide Community Benefits More Than Five Times Their Tax-Exempt Value
    23. Report of the Task Force on Charity Care and Collection Practices for the Uninsured of the IHA and MCHC
      The Voluntary Guidelines on charity and collections adopted by the IHA and MCHC Boards in September 2003.
    24. CMS Guidance on Providing Discounts to the Uninsured
      - Feb. 19, 2004 press release that includes letter to the AHA
      - CMS Questions and Answers Issued on Feb. 19, 2004
      - Feb. 2004 CMS Transmittal Article on Uninsured
    25. American Hospital Association (AHA members only - requires password from AHA)
      Information on charity issues around the United States and federal activity on uninsured billing and collections.
    26. Acts of Charity: Charity Care Strategies for Hospitals in a Changing Landscape (PriceWaterhouseCoopers publication)
    27. Healthcare Financial Management Association’s Patient Friendly Billing Project
      This document contains useful information on improving financial assistance policies for the uninsured.
    28. HFMA Resource Library (Collection of articles, fact sheets, links, presentations, regulatory, reports, and tools & measures) From the drop down menu, choose the topic and then the type of content you wish to view.
      - Reimbursement - Uninsured
      - Revenue Cycle - Billing & Collection
    29. The Self-Sufficiency Standard
      This document contains, detailed by Illinois county, information on how much money working adults need to meet their basic needs. This information may be useful in the development of charity and medical indigence policies.
       
  5. Facts and Figures
    1. IHA Community Benefits Report - Illinois Hospitals Serving Their Communities: It's More Than Just a Job... It's a Way of Life (July 2008)
    2. Value of Community Benefits Provided by Illinois Hospitals (May 2008)
    3. Underpayment by Medicare and Medicaid Fact Sheet (American Hospital Association - Oct. 2007)
    4. Uncompensated Hospital Care Cost Fact Sheet (American Hospital Association - Oct. 2007)
    5. IHA Key Hospital and Health Care Statistics
      Data on the uninsured in Illinois and the financial condition of Illinois hospitals.
    6. The Value of Caring: The Economic Impact of Chicago’s Hospitals on the Metropolitan Chicago Area
      A MCHC study on hospitals’ economic impact on the local economy.
    7. Beyond Health Care - The Economic Contribution of Hospitals
      (AHA study)
    8. Kaiser Family Foundation
      Numerous articles on the national uninsured population.
    9. Families USA - Wrong Direction: One Out of Three Americans Are Uninsured (Sept. 2007)
      This report reveals the state of Illinois has nearly 3.6 million uninsured under the age of 65 at some point during the year 2006-2007.
    10. Gilead Outreach & Referral Center
      The Gilead Outreach & Referral Center annually publishes data on the
      uninsured population in Illinois.
    11. AHA Fact Sheet on Uncompensated Hospital Care Cost
       
  6. Tax Exemption
    1. Preparing for the New IRS 990: It's No Longer Just a Finance Document (6/3/08)
    2. IHA Comment Letter on IRS Form 990 (5/29/08)
    3. IRS Releases Draft Instructions for Form 990 (4/21/08)
    4. IHA's Provena Appellate Court Amicus Brief (1/29/08)
    5. Final Revised Draft of IRS Form 990 (1/10/08)
    6. Associations Challenge Assessor's Valuation of Tax-Exempt Hospitals in Cook County (11/6/07)
    7. Underpayment by Medicare and Medicaid Fact Sheet (American Hospital Association - Oct. 2007)
    8. Uncompensated Hospital Care Cost Fact Sheet (American Hospital Association - Oct. 2007)
    9. IHA Letter to Sen. Grassley re: Tax-Exempt Hospitals (10/5/07)
      - U.S. Senate Committee on Finance - Minority Staff Draft Paper on Tax-Exempt Hospitals
    10. IHA Letter on Hospital Community Benefits (Daily Southtown 9/20/07)
    11. Background Information on Opposing Attorney General's Charity Care & Billing Proposals (2006)
    12. State Moves to Appeal Provena Case (9/7/07)
    13. IHA Comment Letter for the Proposed New IRS Form 990 Schedule H (8/9/07)
      - Comment Period on New Proposed Form 990 and Schedule H (7/12/07)
    14. Judge Rules in Provena's Favor on Tax Exemption (7/23/07)
    15. On March 9, 2007, Provena Covenant Medical Center filed its brief in the case of Provena Covenant Medical Center v. Department of Revenue. On that same day, the following associations filed motions for leave to file briefs as amicus curiae. Click on the following associations to view these briefs (password required).
      - Provena Covenant Medical Center
      - Illinois Hospital Association
      - American Hospital Association
      - Catholic Health Association/Illinois Catholic Health Association/Illinois Catholic Conference
    16. IRS Issues Governance Guidelines for Tax-Exempt Organizations (2/5/07)
    17. AHA Sends Report on Community Benefit to the IRS (AHA News Now, 11/27/06)
    18. Provena Covenant Appeals Tax-Exemption Decision (10/26/06)
      - Provena Press Release 
      - IHA Summary of Provena Decision  (password required)
      - Press Release: IHA Statement on Dept. of Revenue's Provena Covenant Medical Center Decision
      - Dept. of Revenue's Decision on Provena Covenant Medical Center
    19. IHA Analysis of Flawed Report on Hospitals' Tax-Exempt Value and Charity Care  (5/30/06)
      - Press Release: Report Acknowledges Hospitals Provide Community Benefits More Than Five Times Their Tax-Exempt Value
    20. The Property Tax Exemption Process: How the Challenge Occurs and What a Hospital Can Do to Minimize the Risk
    21. Valuable Insights to Minimize Challenges on Charity and Tax Exemption
      A memo outlining best practices for hospitals presented at an IHA seminar.
    22. Five leading Hospital Associations Back Property Tax-Exemption for Illinois Hospitals
      This "friend of the court" brief was filed in the Provena tax-exemption challenge.
    23. Champaign County Board of Review Recommendation for Provena Covenant Hospital and Carle Foundation Hospital
      The Champaign County Board of Review found that the Department of Revenue should deny exempt status of the hospital property.
    24. Cook County Board of Review Decision for Resurrection Health Care
      This favorable decision on property tax appeals found that there was no evidence presented to show that the properties failed to meet the criteria for charitable exemption and outlined reasons why hospitals meet property tax exemption criteria.
    25. The Threat to Hospital Property Tax Exemption
      This document contains information on how hospitals meet the current criteria for property tax exemption. IHA’s legal staff prepared the document in 2005.
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