Recently, the IRS released a final report on its 2006 nonprofit hospital study, which analyzes community benefit and compensation reporting by almost 500 hospitals.  The IRS found that the average and median percentages of total revenues reported as spent on aggregate community benefit expenditures were 9% and 6%, respectively, for the overall group. AHA President and CEO Rich Umbdenstock said, “Today’s IRS report reaffirms that hospitals of all types are providing a healthy mix of care and services to the communities they serve.

"California's high court ruled that emergency-room patients can no longer be billed by doctors and hospitals for care that isn't fully paid by their health plans. The court on Thursday struck down a practice known as 'balance billing,' in which doctors and hospitals seek to collect from patients any amounts that their managed-care plans refuse to pay.

On December 12, 2008, CMS published notice in the Federal Register that it had submitted a revised Disclosure of Financial Relationships Report ("DFRR") audit form to the Office of Management and Budget for review ("OMB").  The DFRR form will be used by CMS to identify arrangements that potentially may not be in compliance with the physician self-referral statute/regulations and to identify examples and areas of noncompliance that may assist CMS in f