IRS urged to revise Schedule H, instructions to acknowledge housing-health link

The AHA and Catholic Health Association of the United States today urged the Internal Revenue Service to formally acknowledge that support for improved housing to enhance the health of a hospital’s community is a community benefit and should be recognized on page 1 of Form 990 Schedule H. “The promotion of health for the community as a whole is the linchpin of a hospital’s tax-exemption under Revenue Ruling 69-545,” the organizations wrote. “Hospitals are actively addressing the need for safe clean housing in ways that have been repeatedly proven to enhance health for individuals and the broader community. Yet the format and instructions of IRS Schedule H continues to exclude support for improved housing from community benefit…. We have urged that IRS recognize the direct relationship between improved housing and improved health since the initial Schedule H was developed. The merit of this position has only grown in the past seven years with the mounting evidence demonstrating the importance of a healthy and safe home environment to the health of individuals and the community.”