Hospital groups want OMB to scuttle draft version of Schedule H

Hospital groups have asked the White House's Office of Management and Budget to derail a draft revision of the Internal Revenue Service's Schedule H of the Form 990, according to the American Hospital Association.

Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the IRS will ask hospitals for additional details about financial assistance extended to low-income patients and about billing and collection policies. The AHA, VHA and the Healthcare Financial Management Association have been pushing the IRS to modify the form and instructions, arguing that they were burdensome and redundant. The IRS answered by making the reporting voluntary for the 2010 tax year.

According to an AHA news alert, the new draft form and instructions (PDF) largely fail to address the organizations' concerns. “Few imagined that the Schedule H form could become such a burden on the tax-exempt hospital field, particularly small hospitals and large hospital systems,” AHA Senior Vice President and General Counsel Melinda Hatton is quoted as saying in the alert. “We are hopeful OMB will respond to the field's concerns and request for assistance in right-sizing the form and its burdens.”