logo
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Subscribe
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Complimentary Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

Hospitals in California Seek to Reduce Charity Requirements

Rob Meiksins
February 16, 2018
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
By The Photographer (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

February 14, 2018; Pasadena Star-News

This is an update on the ongoing debate about nonprofit status of hospitals that has been raging around the country. Not two months ago, NPQ reported on a call for nonprofit hospitals to do more charitable work to ensure they maintain their nonprofit status. This was based on what appeared to be a growing challenge to their nonprofit status on various fronts. There is the famous case in New Jersey in which a judge challenged the nonprofit structure of a hospital, and a recent IRS ruling revoking the tax exempt status of another hospital. NPQ has reported on this for years, asking questions about how charitable nonprofit hospitals actually are.

A new wrinkle has emerged in California where some hospitals have launched a new preemptive strike, petitioning the state attorney general to reduce the amount of charitable work they are required to do to maintain their tax-exempt status.

It has long been a topic of discussion that nonprofit hospitals are required by law to do some charitable, community-based work to justify the tax exemptions they receive. The IRS does not have a specific amount, however, so there is a lot of room to self-determine how much a hospital is giving back to its community. The IRS Form 990 has a Schedule H devoted to this.

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

In California, however, there is a separate law that allows the attorney general there to determine exactly how much charitable work a nonprofit hospital has to do, and this is what is being challenged by four different hospitals. Three hospitals have petitioned to have their amount reduced by about 50 percent and another has asked for it to be reduced by 70 percent. One of the hospitals was recently converted to for-profit status, but has to abide by the charitable work amount for six years as part of the agreement to allow the transition.

Advocates for hospitals are saying that they do more than their fair share: They give on average about $11 of charitable work for every $1 in tax deductions they receive. Community advocates, of course, argue the opposite—that hospitals are not doing enough.

The attorney general has a limited amount of time to respond to the petition, and a hearing on one of them has been scheduled. These very petitions were submitted to the current attorney general’s predecessor not long ago and were declined. The hope is that this new attorney general will have a different point of view.—Rob Meiksins

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rob Meiksins

Rob has served in the nonprofit sector for over 30 years in roles ranging from intern to program manager, executive director to board director, and consultant. Starting out in professional theatre in New York City, Rob moved to Milwaukee to work with Milwaukee Rep as the dramaturg. Later, he started to work more and more helping people and organizations in the nonprofit sector articulate, and then take the next step towards their vision. Currently he is working on a new effort to establish an intentional process for nonprofits to identify their capacity-building needs and then learn about and implement the tools that will help. Ideally this is a partnership between nonprofits, consultants, and the philanthropic community to strengthen the sector we all see as critical.

More about: tax-exempt statusHospital CareManagement and LeadershipNonprofit NewsPolicy

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

NPQ_Winter_2022Subscribe Today
You might also like
Cancelling Student Debt Is Necessary for Racial Justice
Kitana Ananda
To Save Legal Aid, Expand Public Service Loan Forgiveness
Zoë Polk
No Justice, No Peace of Mind and Body: The Health Impacts of Housing Insecurity for Black Women
Jhumpa Bhattacharya, Maile Chand and Andrea Flynn
The Human Impact of the Global Refugee Crisis Must Be Understood—And Acted Upon
Anmol Irfan
Hierarchy and Justice
Cyndi Suarez
Black Americans Need Reparations: The Fight for the CTC Highlights the Roadblocks
Jhumpa Bhattacharya and Trevor Smith

Upcoming Webinars

Group Created with Sketch.
February 23rd, 2 pm ET

Worker Power in the Social Sector

Register Now
Group Created with Sketch.
March 15th, 2 pm ET

Remaking the Economy

Caring for the Care Economy

Register Now
You might also like
Cancelling Student Debt Is Necessary for Racial Justice
Kitana Ananda
To Save Legal Aid, Expand Public Service Loan Forgiveness
Zoë Polk
No Justice, No Peace of Mind and Body: The Health Impacts of...
Jhumpa Bhattacharya, Maile Chand and Andrea Flynn

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Copyright
  • Careers

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.