AHA Statement to House Committee on Ways and Means on Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for FY 2025, H. Con. Res. 14

Statement
of the
American Hospital Association
for the
Committee on Ways and Means
of the
U.S. House of Representatives
“Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2025, H. Con. Res. 14”
May 13, 2025

On behalf of our nearly 5,000 member hospitals, health systems and other health care organizations, our clinician partners — including more than 270,000 affiliated physicians, 2 million nurses and other caregivers — and the 43,000 health care leaders who belong to our professional membership groups, the American Hospital Association (AHA) appreciates the opportunity to provide comments on legislative proposals under consideration before the Ways and Means Committee. 

We would like to provide feedback on sections of legislative proposals to comply with the reconciliation directive included in Section 2001 of the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2025, H. Con. Res. 14. 

RURAL EMERGENCY HOSPITALS 

The AHA appreciates the committee’s intent to build on the rural emergency hospital (REH) designation in Section 111201. Expanding the definition of REH will allow additional facilities to better serve their communities, and we look forward to working with the committee to strengthen the REH designation.

“CHOICE” ARRANGEMENTS 

The AHA welcomes the provisions in Sections 110201-110203 that would allow for greater health plan choice for employees and alleviate administrative burden on employers through Custom Health Option and Individual Care Expense (CHOICE) arrangements. 

TRANSPORTATION FRINGE BENEFIT 

The AHA has concerns regarding Section 112024, which would increase the unrelated business taxable income of tax-exempt organizations by including the amount paid or incurred for any qualified transportation fringe benefit. The administrative burden this provision would create for tax-exempt organizations, including hospitals with tax-exempt status, would far outweigh any revenue generated. 

PARTIAL DEDUCTION FOR CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS 

The AHA appreciates the provisions in Section 110112, which would create a temporary deduction for non-itemizing taxpayers up to $150 for single filers ($300 for married filing jointly) for charitable cash contributions for tax years 2025 through 2028. This provision will incentivize more individuals to make donations to tax-exempt charitable organizations. 

TAX INCENTIVES 

Sections 112003, 112004, 112009, and 112015 would phase out and eliminate several tax incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act that are available to hospitals for energy-efficient construction and clean energy vehicles. 

CONCLUSION 

Thank you for your consideration of the AHA’s comments on these legislative proposals. We look forward to continuing to work with you to address these important topics on behalf of our patients and communities.