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nonprofit hospitals. Community benefit plans, which include charity care investments, must be updated every year to ensure they address issues in real time, are public and available for inspection. The California State Auditor last year released a report noting that nonprofit hospitals are complying with all federal and state laws regarding tax-exempt status. AB 975 supporters are misrepresenting this report, which did not directly call for any changes to current law absent legislative prerogative. Californias current law is the model for the ACAs community benefit and charity care guidelines. AB 975 would compromise the hospitals ability to meet local health care needs and, according to the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, compliance would cost the state millions of dollars. AB 975 would severely compromise a nonprofit hospitals ability to expand services and meet the needs of its community. When the ACA is implemented next January, at least four million Californians may be able to obtain health care coverage for the first time, meaning significant new demands for health care services. Hospitals are facing the challenge of ensuring there are enough beds and services, and health care professionals, to meet this demand. AB 975 is nothing more than a corporate campaign attack against some nonprofit hospitals that the nurses union has targeted for its organizing activities. AB 975 must be defeated so that California can focus on the real work of implementing the ACA, not playing politics with peoples health care.
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