Vizient, Inc. Concerned About Provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R.1)

Business Wire

IRVING, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Vizient, Inc., today expressed concern with certain provisions of H.R.1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, specifically the termination of private activity bonds.

Under current law, interest on these bonds is excluded from gross income and exempt from tax, which is critical to 501(c)(3) organizations’ ability to finance their debt. Lower borrowing costs mean hospitals can offer more services, lower costs for patients, provide necessary upgrades and invest in life-saving technology. If hospital access to tax-exempt financing is eliminated, the health and viability of community hospitals across the country will be at serious risk.

Ensuring the financial viability of our health care providers simultaneously helps care for the communities they serve. In addition to the patient care they provide, hospitals are often the largest employers in the communities they serve, and they are the second-largest source of private-sector jobs.

In addition, Vizient continues to monitor the evolving legislation and cautions against including other provisions that would negatively impact our hospital members and the patients they serve. Vizient encourages Congress to ensure that patients’ health insurance coverage is maintained so that the most vulnerable individuals continue to have access to high quality health care.

Vizient is the nation’s largest health care performance improvement company serving a diverse membership that includes academic medical centers, pediatric facilities, community hospitals, integrated health care delivery networks and non-acute health care providers.

About Vizient, Inc.

Vizient, Inc., the largest member-driven health care performance improvement company in the country, provides innovative data-driven solutions, expertise and collaborative opportunities that lead to improved patient outcomes and lower costs. Vizient’s diverse membership base includes academic medical centers, pediatric facilities, community hospitals, integrated health delivery networks and non-acute health care providers and represents more than $100 billion in annual purchasing volume. The Vizient brand identity represents the integration of VHA Inc., University HealthSystem Consortium and Novation, which combined in 2015, as well as MedAssets’ Spend and Clinical Resource Management (SCM) segment, including Sg2, which was acquired in 2016. In 2017, Vizient again received a World’s Most Ethical Company designation from the Ethisphere Institute. Vizient’s headquarters are in Irving, Texas, with locations in Chicago and other cities across the United States. Please visit www.vizientinc.com as well as our newsroom, blog, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube pages for more information about the company.