PR - TransUnion Addresses Ohio Attorney General’s Concerns Surrounding Non-Profit Tax-Exempt Status

The TransUnion Healthcare Revenue Cycle Platform, a solution that automates the process that assists hospitals in determining whether a patient is eligible for charity or other financial assistance, addresses many of Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann’s concerns regarding state property tax exemptions for not-for-profit hospitals.

Dann recently commented at an Ohio Hospital Association meeting that he would like to better define what not-for-profit hospitals must do to maintain tax exemptions.  According to an Associated Press report, Dann is interested in learning how hospitals collect unpaid medical bills, how much charity care they provide and what financial information they share with the public, among other things. 

“Addressing Attorney General Dann’s concerns, not-for-profit hospitals may use solutions such as TransUnion’s Healthcare Revenue Cycle Platform to demonstrate the amount of charity care they provide to the communities they serve,” said Marty Callahan, vice president of Healthcare Information Solutions for TransUnion.  “Our platform provides hospitals with access to consumer databases and sophisticated decisioning technology to objectively qualify self-pay patients for financial assistance at the time of their medical treatment and even generate the necessary paperwork.  The software also allows hospitals to proactively measure and communicate their charity care distributions on a timely basis.”

Addressing this issue in December 2007, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) introduced its updated Form 990 for tax-exempt organizations, which includes a new Schedule H designed specifically for hospitals.  The form, which will go into effect in the 2009 tax year, requires not-for-profit hospitals to classify their spending for both charity care and bad debt.  

“As healthcare organizations prepare for the 2009 tax year, hospitals will be able to utilize TransUnion’s resources to help them retain their tax-exempt status,” Callahan said. 

In addition to providing access to consumer databases, TransUnion’s Healthcare Revenue Cycle Platform provides the following benefits:

·         Reduces fraud resulting from invalid self-reported data, ensuring charity care is the appropriate program for the truly needy.  Subsequently, this practice allows hospitals to capture more revenue from third party sources that can be earmarked for community benefit.

·         Tracks, stores and provides audit-ready documentation of charity care used to qualify for Hospital Care Assurance Program (HCAP) reimbursement in a timely manner.  HCAP is the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services' mechanism for meeting the federal requirement to provide additional payments to hospitals which provide a disproportionate share of uncompensated services to the indigent and uninsured. 

·         Determines patient status for each hospital visit to eliminate the providing of charity care to those who no longer qualify for it.

·         Eliminates the potential for quarterly/year-end surprises and provides hospitals the ability to modify charity policies in order to stay in compliance with state/local guidelines. Reduces staff time typically required to capture and provide documentation.