SF 3491

as introduced - 84th Legislature (2005 - 2006) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to health; requiring licensed hospitals to submit an annual community
benefits report; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 144.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

new text begin [144.554] COMMUNITY BENEFITS REPORT.
new text end

new text begin (a) Each hospital licensed under section 144.55 shall report annually to the
Minnesota Hospital Association on the community benefits provided by the facility. The
information shall be reported annually by April 1 for the previous calendar year, with the
first report due April 1, 2008, for 2007.
new text end

new text begin (b) The report must comply with the standardized community benefits categories,
definitions, accounting, and reporting guidelines established in the Guidelines and
Standard Definitions for the Community Benefit Inventory for Social Accountability
developed by the Catholic Health Association of the United States and VHA, Inc. The
report must include a calculation of community benefits as a percent of total operating
revenue consistent with Catholic Health Association guidelines, which includes net patient
service revenue and other revenue.
new text end

new text begin (c) To facilitate use of information contained in reports filed under this section, the
Minnesota Hospital Association shall include the reports on its Web site. The association
shall also include information on reporting compliance by hospitals, a summary of
information contained in the reports, and a comparison of the reports to reports filed in
previous years. The reports must be made available to the public for a period of two
years on the association's Web site.
new text end

new text begin (d) The reports shall include information and financial data on:
new text end

new text begin (1) community health services, such as health education, community-based clinical
services, and health care support services;
new text end

new text begin (2) health professional education, such as residency education, provision of clinical
sites for students, and internships and scholarships;
new text end

new text begin (3) subsidized health services, defined as those services that are provided below
cost or provided despite a negative margin;
new text end

new text begin (4) research, such as studies on health issues for vulnerable persons, community
health research, and clinical research and evaluation of innovative treatments;
new text end

new text begin (5) financial contributions, such as funding for not-for-profit community
organizations and in-kind contributions to charitable organizations;
new text end

new text begin (6) community building activities, including donations and assistance with
neighborhood improvement projects, and health and environmental improvements in
the community;
new text end

new text begin (7) government program subsidies, defined as the difference between the cost
of providing care to patients on government programs, such as Medicare or medical
assistance, and the amount paid by government for that care, including payments made to
government entities to assist in health care delivery, such as the MinnesotaCare provider
tax under sections 295.50 to 295.59, and the medical assistance surcharge;
new text end

new text begin (8) care that is provided free of charge to patients who meet an income and asset
standard; and
new text end

new text begin (9) losses from bad debt associated with the costs of caring for persons whose
income is below 275 percent of the federal poverty guidelines.
new text end