Demonstrating that hospital finances and billing practices continue to be of interest to federal lawmakers, on August 7, a group of bipartisan senators sent letters to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) questioning the oversight of nonprofit hospitals. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) requested an evaluation of these hospitals’ compliance with tax-exempt requirements, noting they “are alarmed by reports that despite their tax-exempt status, certain nonprofit hospitals may be taking advantage of this overly broad definition of ‘community benefit’ and engaging in practices that are not in the best interest of the patient.
