HEART Contributions Expand Health Care Services
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ou have to pay state taxes, but do you know what your tax dollars are used for? It’s your money, and whether you’re taxed $50 or $50,000, you should have a choice on how it’s used or who it benefits. You do have that choice when you participate in the Georgia HEART (Helping Enhance Access to Rural Treatment) Hospital Tax Program. Turner & Associates Insurance, along with Ameris Bank, Southeastern Bank and more than 30 individuals/couples have already chosen to redirect a portion of their 2022 tax dollars to the Southeast Georgia Health System Camden Campus. “Georgia is the only state in the nation which is afforded the opportunity to financially support its rural hospitals – at no cost to the taxpayers,” said Glenn Gann, R.N., MSN, vice president and administrator, Southeast Georgia Health System Camden Campus. 54
ELEGANT ISLAND LIVING
“Georgia taxpayers, both individuals and businesses, can receive approval from the Department of Revenue to redirect their 2022 state taxes to a hospital enrolled in the Georgia HEART program. The most important thing? Time is of the essence. An application for approval is necessary now, when the credits are available. 2022 credits are expected to run out by July 1 this year.” Georgia’s rural hospitals have been facing a financial crisis for years due to demographic, economic and industry challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed a whole new set of unique challenges on the state’s rural hospitals. The Georgia HEART Hospital Program administers the Rural Hospital Tax Credit, which was enacted by the Georgia General Assembly in 2016 to increase rural hospital funding and to further the hospitals’ ability to care for the thousands of Georgians who live in the communities they serve.
ABOVE: Robert C. Turner, CPCU, president, Turner & Associates Insurance and Glenn Gann, R.N., MSN, vice president and administrator, Southeast Georgia Health System Camden Campus.
Through HEART, Georgia taxpayers can make contributions in exchange for a 100% state income tax credit, up to specified limits, to qualified rural hospitals of their choice. “C” Corporations and Pass-Through Entity business owners who participate may also qualify for an additional federal business expense deduction. Essentially, individuals and businesses have the unique opportunity to pay their state income taxes--an expenditure they are required to make anyway – through contributing to rural hospitals. Turner & Associates Insurance, a local insurance agency that has been serving the southeast Georgia region since 1950, recently took advantage of the HEART program and graciously contributed $60,000 to the Southeast Georgia Health System Camden Campus. “We are pleased to support the Southeast Georgia Health System Camden Campus and hope that other companies will join us,” said Robert C. Turner, CPCU,
