Politics
Politics

Hospital tax credit hike gains final passage

Like many other rural hospitals in the U.S., Evans Memorial Hospital in Claxton, Ga., has struggled to keep its doors open while treating patients who tend to be older, poorer and often uninsured.
Like many other rural hospitals in the U.S., Evans Memorial Hospital in Claxton, Ga., has struggled to keep its doors open while treating patients who tend to be older, poorer and often uninsured.
By Aaron Gould Sheinin
March 30, 2017

Legislation boosting the value of a rural hospital tax credit gained final passage in the General Assembly on Thursday.

The House and Senate agreed on a compromise to House Bill 180 that increases from 70 percent to 90 percent the value of the credit taxpayers can earn from contributions to qualifying rural hospitals.

Rep. Geoff Duncan, R-Cumming, in 2016 championed a plan to create the tax credit program at 90 percent, but the Senate balked. A 70 percent compromise was signed into law, but the reduced value of the credit has limited their popularity.

The bill also puts a 3 percent cap on how much consultants who help attract donors can be paid.

The AJC reported in December that a Metro Atlanta consultant has signed up to work for about three-fourths of the rural hospitals eligible to receive the donations, much to the consternation of some leading lawmakers.

Jim Kelly, who heads the Georgia HEART Hospital Program and also founded a state tax-credit-funded organization for private school scholarships, said that in the past few months he has signed up 32 of the 49 eligible rural hospitals

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Aaron Gould Sheinin
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