Hospitals get IRS checkup

Things just keep getting worse for non-profit hospitals in Illinois. First, there was the lambasting from the Illinois attorney general over the number of charity cases hospitals were taking (hint: not many) ? and now: the IRS wants a piece.

It?s more of the same, really. The IRS also doesn?t believe that the non-profit hospitals have done enough charity care to warrant their non-profit status. According to a story running in Chicago Business, Special tax forms have appeared in the mailboxes of some Illinois hospitals since May, seeking information about free care for poor people, among other things.

Illinois isn?t out there on its own. Washington D.C. hospitals are also under increased governmental scrutiny. “The end result should be real changes to the requirements of charity hospitals,” said Sen. Grassley, R-Iowa, at a hearing earlier in July.

“Hospitals could wake up to find out that . . . if they want to retain their tax exemption, they have to increase charity care,” says Gerald Griffith, a health care lawyer in Chicago for law firm Jones Day.