Nick Hut
About the Author
Nick Hut is a former newspaper reporter with more than a decade of experience at HFMA. His HFMA Daily reporting is considered a top benefit of membership as members have come to rely on Hut’s daily insights on policy, legal and business developments. He has been at the forefront of major industry news, garnering a following from national media. Nick has earned multiple national awards, including two first-place honors in 2024 from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for excellence in analysis and reporting.
Latest Work
Hospital financial performance improves as Medicaid funding risks grow
Going back to early 2026, hospital and health system financials have started to reflect industry responses to H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). In new reporting (registration required) from Strata Decision Technology on first-half 2026 trends, health system financial performance improved over the six-month period, even as margins remained tight. After falling…
340B rebate model lawsuit seeks to halt 2027 rollout, citing hospital costs
Oct. 12 Update Another potential challenge to the 340B rebate model is forming in Congress, where a bipartisan quartet in the House introduced the 340B Rebate Model Delay Act on Oct. 9. The legislation, which has not yet been posted, would delay the model until 2029 to give Congress more time to evaluate the financial…
2027 Medicare Advantage Star Ratings show gains in high-rated plan enrollment
More than 70% of beneficiaries in Medicare Advantage (MA) plans that include prescription drug coverage are in contracts rated at least four stars out of five, according to CMS’s Star Rating release for 2027. Those plans are in line for quality-bonus payments and in 2028 will receive higher rebates that are used to support supplemental…
Hospital obstetric service closures grow as Congress considers responses
Amid deteriorating access to maternity care across the U.S., Congress is trying to find solutions, while recent data indicate how the situation is playing out at hospitals. A September 2026 report by the University of Minnesota’s Rural Health Research Center states that hospital-based obstetric services declined nationwide between 2010 and 2024, with 718 instances of…
FTC expands healthcare price transparency enforcement as HHS updates rules
Notable government actions on healthcare price transparency have taken place this week, with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) opening a new front in enforcement of hospital price transparency and HHS updating regulations for health plans. Although hospital price transparency enforcement has primarily fallen under the purview of CMS, the FTC says breaches of transparency requirements…
340B rebate model takes shape for 2027 with 10 manufacturers, 21 drugs
The new rebate model for the 340B Drug Pricing Program took a step closer to implementation Oct. 1 with the announcement of the initial cohort of participating manufacturers and covered drugs. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) posted 10 manufacturers and 21 drugs that have been approved for the pilot, which is scheduled to…
Elevance Health brings commercial site-neutral payment to hospital claims
Elevance Health is moving site-neutral payment concepts into commercial reimbursement, with a Sept. 29 announcement setting the stage for constraints on hospital payment. The insurer said it would incorporate a series of new billing policies “intended to address increasingly common situations where care provided at an off-campus location is billed at a higher hospital rate.”…
Healthcare price transparency legislation hits a roadblock in the Senate
Despite widespread, bipartisan support, legislation expanding price transparency remains in limbo in the Senate as Congress considers healthcare policies for inclusion in a year-end package. The Senate seemed on track to pass the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act (S. 2355) on an accelerated basis Sept. 24. But Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) blocked a motion that…
News Briefs: CMS proposes new 340B reporting requirements
The 2027 proposed rule for the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule includes a provision that would require hospitals to submit 340B Drug Pricing Program data to a centralized repository. Providers would submit 340B-related Medicare Part D claims data to the repository starting Jan. 1. CMS intends to assess whether the data can be used to exclude 340B…
CMS guidance details how states can apply the Medicaid medical frailty exemption
New guidance from CMS explains how states can operationalize the medical frailty exemption to the Medicaid work requirement. Per the guidance, the intent is for states to identify medically frail beneficiaries proactively through claims and other existing data to the degree possible, thereby alleviating the administrative burden and risk of coverage loss facing those beneficiaries.…