All in This Together: Public Health and Community Benefit

Abstract

Hilltop Interim Executive Director Michael A. Nolin, MA, made a presentation at the American Public Health Association’s midyear meeting on June 27, 2012, in Charlotte, North Carolina. The session, titled All in This Together – Public Health and Community Benefit, addressed the requirement for nonprofit hospitals to demonstrate their commitment to community health by conducting a community health needs assessment (CHNA) along with a strategy to address the identified needs to support their nonprofit tax status. In his presentation, Nolin gave an overview of the origins of the community benefit standard and discussed the standard in both a federal and state context; discussed the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) reporting requirements for nonprofit hospitals; discussed the CHNA requirements under the Affordable Care Act (ACA); and addressed state policy factors related to CHNAs. Finally, Nolin gave examples of how hospital associations might be responding to these requirements.