Hearing Postponed on Federal Regulations for Hospital Debt Collection

The public hearing on U.S. Treasury Department’s Internal Revenue Service regulations limiting how not-for-profit hospitals can collect debts from its patients has been postponed to Dec. 5.

The hearing will cover  proposed rules that clarify IRS regulations regarding how a hospital manages its financial assistance policy (FAP) and emergency medical care policy, and how it collects debts from patients who may qualify for financial assistance or charity care. During the comment period for the proposed rule,which expired in September, and associations representing healthcare providers and debt collection agencies testified that many of the proposed regulations would be burdensome, including one which puts a prohibition of up to 240-days on providers from reporting  low-income patients to credit bureaus for non-payment of bills.

The hearing had originally been scheduled for Oct.29. Anyone wishing to testify must contact Oluwafunmilayo Taylor at (202) 622-7180 by Nov. 7.

The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. in the auditorium of the Internal Revenue Service at 1111 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC.

Previously:

Associations Find Proposed IRS Regs for Health Collections Burdensome

Treasury, IRS, Release Details of Hospital Debt Collection Regulations

Download copies of the regulations, revisions, and meeting notices below (ZIP file):