Committee reports HB606 to broaden charity-care reporting requirements for hospitals

The Health and Human Services subcommittee, chaired by Chairman Willett, reported HB606 recommending changes to how medical care facilities calculate and report charity care. The subcommittee’s change removes certain limitations on the meaning of charity care for reporting requirements and specifies that the value of charity care for reporting be based on gross patient charges.

The subcommittee recommended reporting by a vote of 10 to 0; the full committee reported HB606 by a vote of 16 to 0. The transcript reflects the subcommittee recommendation and the committee’s unanimous report but does not include detailed fiscal notes or estimates of how reporting changes would affect hospital accounting practices.

The committee recommended the bill be reported out; next procedural steps were not recorded in the meeting excerpt.