New York (PRWEB via PRWebDirect) September 12, 2006 -– On Wednesday, September 13, 2006, the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance will hold a hearing on, “Taking the Pulse of Charitable Care and Community Benefits at Nonprofit Hospitals.” Leading subject matter professionals from PricewaterhouseCoopers Healthcare practice are available to provide commentary and background on the major policy issues that confront hospitals related to not-for-profit tax-exempt status, community benefit standards, charity care to the uninsured and under insured as well as related executive compensation and physician-hospital joint venture matters.
In the coming weeks, PricewaterhouseCoopers Health Research Institute will release a paper entitled “My Brother’s Keeper,” which takes an in-depth look at who is ultimately responsible for care to the uninsured, the responsibilities that tax-exempt hospitals have to the community, and how hospitals are responding to increasing public scrutiny over the community benefit they provide. The paper follows on a 2005 PricewaterhouseCoopers report entitled “Acts of Charity,” which provided analysis of how hospitals charge and account for services to the uninsured and under-insured. A preliminary executive summary of “My Brother’s Keeper” and a full copy of “The Acts of Charity” are available for download at pwc.com/healthcare.
The following, who worked closely on the reports, are available for comment:
Community Benefit, Charity Care
Reatha Clark, Partner, Health Industries Advisory, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Based in Atlanta, Reatha is a partner in Health Industries Advisory practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers. She headed the Health Advisory team for the Health Research Institute's publication "My Brother’s Keeper” and “Acts of Charity--Charity care strategies for hospitals in a changing landscape."
Tax-exemption for Not-for-profits
Rob Friz, Partner, Healthcare Tax Services, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Based in Philadelphia, Rob is a Partner in the Exempt Organizations Tax Services practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers' National Tax Services (NTS). His practice focuses on providing advice regarding tax and business issues associated with tax-exempt health care organizations and their related for-profit and joint venture entities. Rob is an Adjunct Professor for the Graduate Tax Program at Temple University School of Law (instructing the course “Taxation of Exempt Organizations”) and is chairman for the Tax and Accounting Interest Group of the Health Law Section of the American Bar Association.
Physician-Hospital Joint Ventures
Brett Hickman, Partner, Healthcare Industries Advisory, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Based in Chicago, Brett is a Partner in the Health Industries Advisory practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers. He specializes in physician joint venture and related Stark laws and has consulted on more than 50 hospital-physician joint ventures.
Transparency and Patient Friendly Billing
Jim Horne, Managing Director, Healthcare Industries Advisory, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Based in Tampa, Jim is Managing Director of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Health Industries Advisory. He can comment extensively on patient-friendly billing and has worked with hospitals on pricing rationalization, pricing and quality transparency, pricing for the uninsured and impacts of consumerism/ high deductible health plans.
Hospital Pricing Strategies
Richard Wichmann, Managing Director, Healthcare Industries Advisory, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Based in Boston, Richard is a managing director in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Health Industries Advisory practice and advises hospitals on pricing strategies, compliance and contract management. He has worked with hundreds of hospitals across the country to develop pricing strategies.
For more information, or to schedule an interview, please contact Lisa Stearns, The Hubbell Group, Inc., at 781-878-8882, lstearns @ hubbellgroup.com or Todd W. Hall, PricewaterhouseCoopers, 617-530-4185, todd.w.hall @ us.pwc.com.
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