IRS urged to withdraw 'unworkable' FAP requirement

The AHA and Association of American Medical Colleges Friday urged the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department to swiftly withdraw an “unworkable” requirement that hospital financial assistance policies list the providers delivering emergency or other medically necessary care and whether each is covered by the policy. Scheduled to take effect at the end of this year, the provision was included in final regulations implementing additional requirements for charitable hospitals under the Affordable Care Act, but it was not included in any proposed regulations nor the subject of any requests for comments. “Had this requirement been proposed, hospitals would have been able to help the Service understand that it is a significant problem for compliance and would have suggested alternatives that would be better matched to the objective,” the organizations wrote. “Hospitals strongly support transparency and appreciate that patients find it difficult to understand the multiple bills associated with hospital-based care. However, this regulatory requirement was unexpected, is confusing and extraordinarily burdensome for hospitals, and will not provide patients with information they need…Any addition to the regulations should be done through a notice and comment process that begins with a clear articulation of the issue to be addressed and its connection to the statutory requirements.”