Consumer group urges IRS to include housing as community benefit

Community Catalyst, a national consumer advocacy group focused on health and health care, this week urged the Internal Revenue Services to clarify Form 990 Schedule H to support the inclusion of improved housing as a hospital community benefit. “We believe that this would meet a need expressed by community partners and hospital allies who have indicated that additional clarity would be helpful to encourage investment and foster partnerships to address housing, nutrition, public safety, education and employment, and other longstanding needs in the communities they serve,” the group said in a letter to the agency. In April, the AHA and Catholic Health Association of the United States urged the IRS to formally acknowledge that support for improved housing to enhance the health of a hospital’s community is a community benefit and should be recognized on page 1 of Schedule H.