Employees say they have received emails from Whitney that came close to ordering certain political activities, but the email on the 28th crossed the line. In her email Whitney writes, “The next time you see one of these signature gatherers, please pass them by and remember how critical health coverage is to the patients and families we serve.” While employees appreciate that she began her order with the word “please,” there was no mistake that it was an order. One employee pointed out that Whitney did not say “please consider” or “you might consider.”
Whitney wrote, “Please pass them by.” They contend the meaning was clear.
The surprise they felt upon first receiving the order soon became concern. What were the consequences if they didn’t pass them by? The order was only given on the 28th, and many of them might have signed the petition months ago.
Spokesperson for the University of Arizona Health Network, Katie Riley, confirmed that the email was sent by the Network, vetted by corporate attorneys and deemed to comply with legal restrictions as a 501 C (3). Riley said the email was sent only to “educate and advocate” on political issues related to healthcare.
According to the IRS, 501(c)(3) organizations are “absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign.” However, the IRS notes, “Certain activities or expenditures may not be prohibited depending on the facts and circumstances. For example, certain voter education activities (including presenting public forums and publishing voter education guides) conducted in a non-partisan manner do not constitute prohibited political campaign activity.”
The IRS prohibits “voter education or registration activities with evidence of bias.” Violations of this prohibition may result in denial or revocation of tax-exempt status and the imposition of certain excise taxes.
One employee said that while they agree that Medicaid is necessary and has saved many lives, they believe that Brewercare will harm Arizona taxpayers as federal money dries up. They also recognize that Whitney makes a good point when she writes, “Arizona will keep billions of our own tax dollars here in Arizona to create quality jobs,” which is really the point of concern – those quality jobs. They would like to know if they will be able to keep their jobs if they “disobeyed” the order and didn’t “pass them by.”
The initial draft of the AHCCCS’s hospital assessment that will fund Governor Brewer’s Medicaid expansion plan has been completed. During the last legislative session, hospitals fought hard and spent big money in support of expansion. It will pay off in a substantial way.
According to the draft, nearly every hospital system in the state is expected to gain money overall during the first six months of the expansion. The total collected from all hospitals will be $75 million under the assessment, and they will receive a return of nearly $184 million in the first year.
