Hospital groups point IRS to evidence for including housing as community benefit

The AHA, Catholic Health Association of the United States, and Association of American Medical Colleges last week responded to an Internal Revenue Service request for specific research supporting the inclusion of housing as a community benefit activity on Part I of Schedule H. “As you requested, we have attached a list of links to many important studies on housing and health as well as a summary of the research on the social determinants of health, including housing,” the groups wrote. “These resources strongly support our position that housing, an essential component of the infrastructure needed to promote and sustain good health, should be counted as a Community Benefit activity in Part I when undertaken by tax-exempt hospitals. This research also confirms that many other government agencies, including the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Agriculture], view access to safe housing as an important contributor to the health of American families.”