The Association for Healthcare Philanthropy said it helped to remove - at "the 11th hour" - language in the economic stimulus bill that would have damaged philanthropic fundraising efforts by nonprofit hospitals.
If the language had been included in the bill signed into law Tuesday by President Barack Obama, it would have resulted in fewer donated dollars from patients and a loss of essential healthcare services provided to the uninsured and underinsured, said the AHP.
Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), nonprofit hospitals and their foundations - using fundraising outreach services that are tightly controlled to protect patients' privacy - are allowed to seek donations from individuals who have been patients in their hospitals.
The privacy of the patients in the context of this type of fundraising found virtually no examples that the information was compromised under HIPAA, a fact acknowledged in letters to AHP in 2007 and 2008 by the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human Services.
In a fact sheet distributed to lawmakers, AHP President and Chief Executive Officer William C. McGinly warned that if the language had passed, fewer philanthropic dollars would come into nonprofit hospitals, straining operating budgets and limiting financial resources. The ultimate result would have been cuts in free services to the poor such as clinics, mammography screenings, hearing tests and child immunizations, he warned.
"With the nation in a recession and America's healthcare needs increasing, now is not the time to impose obstacles to philanthropic fundraising that do nothing to enhance patient privacy and will ultimately diminish and discourage philanthropy," said McGinly.
The language was removed in favor of the House-Senate conference committee language, which is similar to existing HIPAA requirements.
The Association for Healthcare Philanthropy includes 5,000 fundraising professionals, development staff, public relations professionals, trustees, marketing professionals, administrators and executives interested in healthcare fundraising.