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WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of senators wants federal tax regulators to probe nonprofit hospitals’ compliance with community benefit requirements, ratcheting up a longtime campaign to hold the tax-exempt providers accountable.

Nonprofit hospitals are often subsidized by state or federal funding and exempt from many taxes. In exchange, they are required to aid their surrounding area through public health programs and providing free or discounted care to low-income patients. However, advocates have long argued that the tax code’s broad definition of community benefits has hospitals logging costs like physician training and research rather than direct community benefits like health screenings, free clinics, and care for the uninsured.

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Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) late Monday sent letters to both the Internal Revenue Service commissioner and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration calling for an investigation into “overly broad” tax wording and oversight of roughly $28 billion in exemptions.

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