According to a National Disability Institute report (available here), adults living with disabilities need 28% more income on average to achieve the same standard of living as those without disabilities. There are some tools designed to address this disparity, including Achieving a Better Life Experience (“ABLE”) accounts, a potentially
Healthcare Organizations
Supreme Court Agrees Religiously Affiliated Hospitals Can Have “Church Plans”
The United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of religiously-affiliated hospitals and healthcare organizations in holding that a pension plan need not be established by a church in order to qualify for ERISA’s church plan exemption. Petitioners are religiously affiliated non-profit healthcare organizations appealing decisions by the Third, Seventh, and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeal that a church must establish an ERISA-exempt church plan. Respondents are current and former employees of these organizations.
IRS and Treasury Release Annual Priority Guidance Plan
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The IRS and Treasury Department have released their annual Priority Guidance Plan (the “Plan”) for the 2012-2013 fiscal year. The 35-page Plan is available here and includes thirteen projects directly related to Exempt Organizations. At least five other projects, such as final regulations under Section 170 regarding charitable contributions and guidance on Section 403(b) plans, are also likely to be of interest to Exempt Organizations.
Official Confirms IRS Review of Community Benefit Compliance by 3,377 Hospitals
By Yafang Deng on
An IRS official confirmed, while speaking at an American Health Lawyers Association conference on October 16th, that the IRS has identified 3,377 tax-exempt hospitals that are being reviewed for compliance with the tax exemption community benefit standard.
Proposed Regulations on Federal Income Tax Exemption for Hospitals
By Elizabeth M. Mills on
As previously reported, the Treasury Department released proposed regulations on June 22, 2012 interpreting and implementing specific requirements for hospitals to maintain their Section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status under Section 501(r) of the Code. Section 501(r) was enacted as part of the 2010 Health Care Reform Act (the “Act”).
IRS Releases 2010 Schedule H and Grants Automatic Three-month Extension of Time to File
By Elizabeth M. Mills on
As we have previously reported, the Affordable Care Act (the “Act”) included additional requirements for tax-exempt hospitals to maintain their tax-exempt status; these changes are effective for tax years starting after March 23, 2010, the enactment date of the Act.
These additional requirements included Form 990 reporting obligations for …
PPACA Emergency Room Reminder
By Peter J. Marathas on
Federal legislation often includes provisions that lead to unintended consequences. One such provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the “Act”) likely has left some hospital benefits managers scratching their heads: a requirement that certain group health plans may not impose greater restrictions on out-of-network emergency care services (Section 10101(h) of the Act).)
Specifically, under the Act, starting in 2011, non-grandfathered plans must provide coverage for emergency services without regard to whether the provider is in-network or out-of-network.
Medical residents conclusively determined to be subject to FICA tax beginning April 15, 2005 under new U.S. Supreme Court decision
By Elizabeth M. Mills on
In Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research v. United States , the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the validity of a Treasury Regulation that states that the student exception from FICA (Social Security and Medicare) tax does not apply to medical residents because they work at least 40 hours per week. Applying the deferential two-part standard of review from Chevron the Supreme Court concluded that the relevant statutory provision was ambiguous and the regulation was a permissible interpretation of the statute.
For background on the medical resident FICA issue, click here.
As we have previously reported, since the 1990’s many academic medical centers and individual medical residents have filed claims with the IRS seeking refunds of FICA taxes paid on medical resident salaries based on the argument that the residents are students and thus exempt from FICA. In March 2010, the IRS announced that it would concede and pay outstanding claims for periods before April 1, 2005. April 1, 2005 is the date the new FICA regulation precluding student status for full-time workers went into effect.
Attorney General’s Statement on Hospital Transfer Could Have Much Broader Implications
By Scott Harshbarger on
On October 6, 2010, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley released a report related to the proposed transfer of the Caritas Christi Hospital System (“Caritas”) to Steward Health Care System LLC, an affiliate of Cerbeus Capital Management, L.P. The report (“The Statement”) contains the Attorney General’s analysis – under Massachusetts charitable law and the Attorney General’s role as public charities’ overseer — of its five month evaluation and assessment of the proposed sale of Caritas to Steward, a newly-created for-profit entity, controlled, owned and funded by Cerberus, a private equity fund. The Statement can serve as a very useful primer or guide to any charitable organization and its board, not just healthcare organizations.
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Medical Resident FICA — Action on Individual Refund Claims
By Elizabeth M. Mills on
We have been closely following the medical resident FICA refund issue. As we noted in our blog entry in March on the topic, the IRS conceded that refund claims for FICA taxes for medical residents for the periods before April 1, 2005 will be paid. The IRS has now announced this month that it has begun sending letters to individual medical residents who filed individual claims for FICA refunds. These letters ask the individuals to submit copies of their claims.
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