Late News: IRS change to Schedule H draws heat from 3 groups

Three provider groups criticized the Internal Revenue Service for the way the agency revised the Schedule H section of the Form 990 that hospitals file.

In a letter to the Office of Management and Budget and also sent to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the American Hospital Association, the Healthcare Financial Management Association and hospital network VHA said the IRS failed to follow the 1995 Paperwork Reduction Act when it revised section V.B. of the form.

The groups contend that the section, which added 80 additional questions that hospitals must now answer, includes burdensome reporting requirements and inconsistencies. Representatives from the organizations met with the IRS and OMB in December to discuss the matter. The letter complains that “one day after publishing a notice on the IRS website on Dec. 15, 2011, requesting comments on the ‘draft’ Schedule H, IRS representatives told those attending the OMB meeting that the form and instructions were final and that no further changes would be made.”