Mercy Life of Alabama

“The sole member of mercy life is trinity health pace. See line 7 for additional information.”

“Trinity health pace is the sole member of mercy life. Trinity health pace has the right to appoint all persons to the board of directors of mercy life.”

“As sole member, trinity health pace must approve certain decisions of the governing body, including the strategic plan, annual capital plan, and annual operating budget. Trinity health pace must also approve significant changes such as a merger, dissolution, sale of assets in excess of certain limits, a material change in mission, and modifications to governing documents. As the parent of the national trinity health system, certain powers are reserved to trinity health corporation. These include the authority to adopt or modify the organization's governing documents, to approve major changes such as a merger or dissolution, and to approve significant finance matters in excess of certain limits established by trinity health corporation.”

“Line 8b is answered "no" because mercy life had no committees with authority to act on behalf of the governing body.”

“Prior to filing, the form 990 for mercy life is reviewed by management. Each member of the board receives a copy of the return in its final form before it is filed with the internal revenue service.”

“Mercy life has adopted trinity health's governance policy no. 1, which sets forth the organization's conflict of interest policy and processes. It applies to all "interested persons" of mercy life, which includes directors, principal officers, and key employees. Interested persons are expected to discharge their duties in a manner the person reasonably believes to be in the best interests of mercy life and to avoid situations involving a conflict of interest. On an annual basis, interested persons are required to complete a conflict of interest disclosure statement and to affirm their receipt of the conflict of interest policy, compliance with its requirements, and agree to notify the organization of changes impacting their annual disclosure in accordance with the policy. The annual disclosures are provided to the integrity and compliance officer, who collaborates with internal legal counsel to assess the conflict and identify a conflict management plan when necessary. Additionally, the integrity and compliance officer along with legal counsel prepares a report for the board chair and ceo. A summary of potential conflicts is reviewed with the board of directors of mercy life on a yearly basis. Interested persons are required to make full disclosure to mercy life of any financial or business interests that might result in or have the appearance of a conflict of interest. The board of directors of mercy life is responsible for the review of transactions to determine whether an actual conflict of interest exists. In the event of an actual conflict, the board will either avoid the conflict or appropriately scrutinize the transaction to ensure it is in the best interests of mercy life. Interested persons are required to recuse themselves from discussion and voting on matters involving a conflict of interest. The policy further addresses the proper documentation of the proceedings and potential disciplinary and corrective action for violations of the policy. The policy is available to the public upon request.”

“Questions 15a and 15b are answered "no" because the compensation for certain officers and key management officials of mercy life is established by trinity health, a related organization. In establishing ceo, cfo, and vice president finance compensation, trinity health follows a process and policy that is intended to mirror the irc section 4958 guidelines for obtaining a "rebuttable presumption of reasonableness" with regard to compensation and benefits. As part of that process, the compensation and benefits of the ceo, cfo, and vice president finance of mercy life are reviewed at least annually by the trinity health board or the trinity health human resources and compensation committee (hrcc) of the board, authorized to act on behalf of the board with respect to certain compensation matters. As part of its review process, the hrcc retains an independent firm experienced in compensation and benefit matters for not-for-profit health care organizations to advise it in the determinations it makes on the reasonableness of proposed compensation and benefits arrangements. For other executives who are not part of the rebuttable presumption process, trinity health uses a market analysis to determine the appropriateness of the executive's compensation.”

“Mercy life is a subsidiary organization in the trinity health system. Trinity health makes certain of its key documents available to the public on its website, www.trinity-health.org, in the "about us" section. In this section, the consolidated audited financial statements are publicly available. Mercy life's governing documents and conflict of interest policy are available upon request.”

“Individuals who work at mercy life are on the payroll of a related organization. These individuals' salaries and benefits are allocated to mercy life and are reported on part ix, lines 6 through 9.”

“Contract labor: program service expenses 206,365. Management and general expenses 32,576. Fundraising expenses 0. Total expenses 238,941. Medical services: program service expenses 8,935,116. Management and general expenses 0. Fundraising expenses 0. Total expenses 8,935,116. Miscellaneous purchased services: program service expenses 58,846. Management and general expenses 9,289. Fundraising expenses 0. Total expenses 68,135. Recruiting services: program service expenses 4,762. Management and general expenses 751. Fundraising expenses 0. Total expenses 5,513. Medical specialist fees: program service expenses 424,257. Management and general expenses 0. Fundraising expenses 0. Total expenses 424,257.”

“Mercy life's financial statements were included in the fy24 consolidated financial statements of trinity health, which were audited by an independent public accounting firm.”