A coalition to help hospitals deal with the information and data demands of the revised 990 tax form and a schedule specifically related to hospitals has launched a new Web site. The coalition announced the launch today at the Healthcare Financial Management Association's annual conference.
The 990 Coalition for Hospitals created the Web site to provide support for healthcare professionals who contribute to or prepare the new forms from the Internal Revenue Service.
The 990 form and the new Schedule H for hospitals will be filed in 2009 to report on not-for-profit hospitals' activities from this tax year. The new form will require a variety of information from providers to assess the benefits they offer to the community as weighed against their tax-exempt status.
The form was released earlier this year; instructions for filling out the form are expected to be released in mid-July, said Julia Trocchio, senior director of community benefit and continuing care for the Catholic Health Association.
Trocchio, speaking at a pre-conference workshop here on Monday said the Web site was designed to be a central source to answer questions related to the new form, which asks for data on providers' charity care, community efforts and other intangible contributions to the community.
Web site resources include a central source for current information on IRS's activities and instructions; an annotation of IRS 990 Schedule H with expert advice; resources on completing the IRS 990 and Schedule H; an online forum for sharing information on planning and implementation efforts; and announcements of educational programs regarding the IRS 990 and community benefit.
The 990 Coalition for Hospitals was established by four national organizations with long-standing experience in the areas of community benefit and hospital tax exemption. They include the American Health Lawyers Association; the Catholic Health Association, the Healthcare Financial Management Association and VHA Inc.
In the session on the new form, Trocchio said it's uncertain exactly how the IRS plans to use the information submitted in the first filings of the new form and schedule.
"The IRS does a lot of statistical tests and looks for outliers," she said. "They're going to look for organizations that they can learn more about. It's going to provide legislators and the Government Accountability Office with more data."