Ways and Means Chair Hits Hospital Tax-Exempt Status: BGOV Tax

Nonprofit Hospitals Get Scrutiny in Congress

Republicans cited concerns about hospitals’ tax-exempt status, among other issues, as they zeroed in on hospital CEOs in a House Ways and Means Committee hearing focused on affordability, Macon Atkinson reports.

“For-profit hospitals are legally required to put shareholders over patients, but so-called nonprofit hospitals rarely act much different,” Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) said. “Tax-exempt hospitals deliver charity care that is consistently worth less than the tax break they receive.”

Smith’s comments come after the IRS announced in 2024 that it would audit more than three-dozen tax-exempt hospitals as part of ...