Approximately 82 percent of Georgia’s hospitals are nonprofit entities, meaning these facilities have particular obligations to their communities due to the tax revenue the community forgoes. The most important way a nonprofit hospital can begin to return the value of its tax-exemption to the community is through direct financial assistance to low-income patients. Well-designed community benefit programs go beyond the hospital walls and into the community itself. Information about community benefit programs are to be reported to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) via IRS Form 990′s Schedule H, which requires hospitals to disclose key quantitative and qualitative information. Unfortunately, for Fiscal Year 2010, the IRS deemed this disclosure optional. To date, only 24 of Georgia’s nonprofit hospitals have completed this form in a publicly-accessible manner.

In October 2011, we issued a letter to the IRS voicing our concern over the IRS decision and its potential impact on patients. You can read the letter here.

A new provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act known as medical loss ratio (MLR) provides greater value for consumers by requiring insurance companies to not only disclose how they spend their individual policyholders’ premium dollars but also dedicate at least 80 percent of those paid premium dollars to direct medical care and quality improvement programs for their customers.

Last spring, Georgia’s insurance commissioner, however, requested leniency on behalf of Georgia’s insurance companies to phase in this provision over three years rather than implement it immediately. This request was a tremendous disservice to the Georgians currently insured through individual policies.

Georgia Watch, along with Georgians for a Healthy Future, asked the US Department of Health and Human Services to deny Georgia’s request. We issued public comments to HHS and we authored an issue brief made available to the public. Luckily, our voice was heard, and a middle ground was struck. The Insurance Commissioner’s Office can still phase in the MLR rules, but at a much faster rate, which is a benefit to all Georgia policyholders with individual insurance.  Read more

Even though temperatures are still fairly warm, fall’s much cooler weather is just around the corner! Before you know it we will be turning on our heat to keep warm during the colder fall and winter months. Historically, September has been a good time to lock in a “fixed” natural gas rate (i.e., a rate which remains the same over the term of the contract). If you would prefer not to lock in to a fixed rate contract, you may also choose a gas marketer’s “variable” rate plan which, as its name suggests, varies from month to month, depending on market conditions. The rate may increase, decrease or stay the same from one month to the next. Read more