AAMC President and CEO David J. Skorton, MD, and Chief Public Policy Officer Danielle Turnipseed, JD, MHSA, MPP, issued the following statement about the Tax Exempt Hospital Transparency Act (H.R. 9504), which was passed by the House Ways and Means Committee today:
“The AAMC is deeply disappointed by the House Ways and Means Committee’s passage of the Tax Exempt Hospital Transparency Act (H.R. 9504). While the AAMC appreciates and values transparency, this legislation disproportionately impacts the nation’s academic health systems and teaching hospitals. The core missions of academic medicine include training the future health care workforce, treating patients with the most complex and severe health challenges, conducting cutting-edge medical research, and investing in the health and wellness of communities nationwide.
The legislation would impose burdensome reporting requirements based on an institution’s size and revenue while disregarding the unique, complex financial structures and mission-related costs inherent to academic medicine. The legislation also includes misguided 340B reporting requirements that misrepresent and overstate the program’s financial value to participating hospitals without yielding meaningful data about how hospitals use the program to benefit patients and communities. Instead of ensuring AAMC member institutions are able to focus their valuable resources on treating patients and serving their communities, this bill would divert crucial resources and staff to navigate administratively burdensome reporting mandates.
The AAMC urges policymakers to reject this approach and instead work with the hospital community on meaningful solutions that support, rather than penalize, the institutions anchoring our nation’s health care safety net.”