Hospital News Feed
| Compensation seen as high—but permissible—at not-for-profits, says IRS official |
|
|
|
|
Modern Healthcare, January 13, 2009 - Although executive compensation was legally “reasonable” at nearly all of the not-for-profit hospitals singled out for review by the IRS, the salaries may still raise some eyebrows. “Compensation was pretty high, and while permissible under current law, I wonder how it will be received in the court of public opinion,” said Steven Miller, commissioner of the IRS’ Tax Exempt and Government Entities office, during a healthcare conference in Austin, Texas, organized by the state attorney general’s office. Miller told conference attendees that his office is nearly ready to release its long-awaited final report on enforcement at not-for-profit hospitals, including its findings of executive compensation. Nearly all hospitals surveyed appeared to have used comparability data and the rebuttable presumption of reasonableness provisions in the excess-benefit rules on executive compensation. “I think that is a good thing,” Miller said. “Still, the compensation amount paid to the top management officials will be considered high by some.” The report will also reveal that on average, not-for-profit hospitals spend 9% of their total revenue on community-benefit activities with the cost of uncompensated care accounting for just over half of that total figure. Meanwhile, tax-exempt hospitals reported an average profit margin of 5%. Last year, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, presented a staff draft proposal that would force not-for-profit hospitals to devote at least 5% of revenues to charity care in order to justify tax exemption. Grassley is expected to introduce similar “bright line” legislation this year. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Post a comment on this article and share your opinion with other readers. Submit your comments to Modern Healthcare Online at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Please be sure to include your hometown and state, along with your organization and title. By This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Source: http://modernhealthcare.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090113/REG/301139962 Modern Healthcare is the industry's most trusted, credible and relied-upon news source. In print and online, Modern Healthcare examines the most pressing healthcare issues and provides executives with the information they need to make the most informed business decisions and lead their organizations to success. It's for this reason Modern Healthcare is deemed a "must-read publication" by the who's who in healthcare. For more healthcare business news, visit http://www.ModernHealthcare.com . » Post Comment
» No Comments
There are no comments up to now.
|
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|