Public Policy (See Advocacy section of this Web Site):

• Developed and advocated to Washington officials and to the CEOs of all nonprofit hospitals and systems a proposal for fair and simple federal income-tax exemption requirements for nonprofit hospitals and systems.
• Formed and convened a coalition of state-level hospital, physician and consumer groups which successfully challenged the conversion of nonprofit Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield to convert to for-profit status in order to be acquired by for-profit WellPoint/Anthem.
• Developed and advocated a proposal for substantial federal funding support for all nonprofit health care providers for health information technology, culminating in $20.8 billion federal support (incentive payments for hospitals under Medicare and Medicaid as well as grants to community health centers) as part of the President’s economic stimulus program.
• Collaborated with national hospital associations in successfully influencing new nonprofit reporting requirements as part of the IRS’s redesign of Form 990.
• Developed and advocated a proposal to inform consumers under the Affordable Care Act of the nonprofit versus for-profit ownership status of the health plans offering them coverage choices under federal and state health insurance exchanges. Based the proposal on the results of the Alliance’s analyses of the annual ratings of health plans’ quality (NCQR surveys) and member satisfaction (JD Power and Associates surveys) and on the results of a consumer survey by Zogby International on their attitudes about health plan ownership status.

Congressional Staff Briefing Sessions on Nonprofit Health Care Leadership in Improving Health Care Value and Bending the Cost Curve, Co-Sponsored with Premier, Inc.:

• Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Arrangement: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois and Advocate Health
• ACO Arrangement: Blue Shield of California, Dignity Health (formerly Catholic Healthcare West), and Hill Physicians
• ACO Arrangement: Minnesota Blue Cross Blue Shield and Fairview
• Patient-Centered Medical Homes: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and AtlantiCare

Alliance Roundtable Discussion Series on Important Nonprofit Health Care Issues, Co-Sponsored by the Health Care Journal Inquiry (See Reports section of this web site for an anthology of the proceedings of the following twelve roundtable discussions):

• Nonprofit Health Care Organizations and the Public Trust
• What Does It Take to Build a Strong Nonprofit Health Care Board?
• Executive Compensation in Nonprofit Health Care Organizations
• Nonprofit Health Care Organizations and Universal Health Care Coverage
• Nonprofit Health Care Market Concentration and the Public Interest
• Protecting the Hospital Safety Net
• The Future of Property Tax Exemption for Nonprofit Health Care Organizations
• Health Care Reform Through Community Benefit Leadership
• Community Benefit: Overcoming Organizational Barriers and Laying the Foundation for Success
• If Nonprofit Doesn’t Mean “No Profit,” How Much Is Enough in Health Care?
• Executive Compensation in Nonprofit Health Care Organizations
• Advertising by Nonprofit Health Care Organizations

Alliance Guidance Documents:

• Great Governance Guide for Busy Nonprofit Health Care Board Leaders and Executives (See Reports)
• Guidelines for Nonprofit Health Plans on Community Benefit Practices (See Reports)
• Guidelines on Medicaid Reform
• Maximizing Community Benefit: A Six-Point Program (See Reports)
• A Keystone for Health Care Reform: An Organized Coalition in Every Community (See Reports)
• Special Alliance Report: CEO Compensation Practices in Nonprofit Hospitals (See Advocacy)
• Why Nonprofit Home Care and Hospice Leaders Need a Community Benefit Strategy, and 10 Key Steps to Get There (see Advocacy; this guidance is equally applicable to leaders of all other types of nonprofit health care organizations)

Other Valuable Alliance Reports (See Reports):

• The Value of Nonprofit Health Care
• The Promise and Pitfalls of the Federal Health Care Reform Law
• Hospital Tax Exemption: How Did We Get Here?
• Hospital Tax Exemption: Where Do We Go From Here?
• State Tax Exemption Standards With Quantitative Thresholds for Nonprofit Health Care Organizations
• Regulation of Executive Compensation at Nonprofit Health Care Organizations: Coming Changes?
• The Saga of a Failed Conversion to For-Profit: The CareFirst BCBS Story Part 1
• Lessons Learned from a Failed Conversion to For-Profit: The CareFirst Story Part 2
• Premera Blue Cross’ Proposed Conversion to For-Profit Status

News Commentaries and Interviews (See the Advocacy Section of the Web Site):

The President was able to arrange noteworthy commentaries and interviews on such topics as the value and performance of nonprofit health care, protecting the health care safety net and tax exemption in such publications as Modern Healthcare, Healthleaders, and Managed Care Executive.

Non-Alliance Resources on the Web Site:

Both Alliance and non-Alliance documents (e.g., reports, commentaries, news articles, research findings, guidelines) can be found in the Resources section of the web site, organized under the following topics:

• Basic Facts (By Type of Nonprofit Health Care Organization)
• Access
• Hospital Billing
• Executive and Board Compensation
• Nonprofit Results (Value and Performance)
• Community Benefits (Practices and Standards)
• Conversions (to For-Profit Status)
• Governance