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
Financial and operational challenges still hamper hospitals 2.5 years into the pandemic
Even as much of society takes steps toward pre-pandemic normalcy, hospitals continue to struggle under the weight of the last two and a half years.
Final rule appears to give a boost to providers in No Surprises Act arbitration cases
A new final rule codifies updated criteria for deciding arbitration cases under the No Surprises Act, with providers potentially coming out ahead relative to last year’s interim final rule.
Landmark law to curb drug prices in Medicare has potential, but implementation will be key
Newly signed legislation gives Medicare authority to negotiate the prices of certain high-cost drugs with manufacturers.
Final rule for Medicare inpatient payments brings a big rate increase but falls short of what hospitals sought
The final rule for Medicare inpatient payments to acute care hospitals calls for a 4.3% increase, up by more than a percentage point from the proposed rule.
Medicare payment updates in 3 final rules could foreshadow good news for hospitals
For hospices, inpatient psychiatric facilities and inpatient rehabilitation facilities, updated economic forecasting data resulted in payment increases of at least 1% relative to the proposed rules.
As revenue cycle challenges accumulate, a new survey suggests hospitals are taking a closer look at automation
For hospitals and health systems, survey results show that the ongoing labor crunch in revenue cycle operations has provided an impetus to expand process automation.
In an inflationary environment, pending Medicare payment updates don’t measure up
Consumer-focused inflation numbers aren’t as significant in healthcare as in other sectors, but prices are hampering hospitals and health systems.
New rule sets forth proposed Medicare payment policies for rural emergency hospitals
For hospitals that choose to begin operating under the new rural emergency hospital designation in 2023, Medicare will pay for any service that would be covered as a hospital outpatient department service.
Outpatient payment proposed rule: 340B drug payments to rise significantly in 2023 but will cut into the overall rate increase
Even before factoring in the impact of the 340B payment changes, hospital groups aren’t happy with the proposed payment update.
CMS says EMTALA covers situations in which terminating a pregnancy is medically necessary
Even in situations that don’t qualify as life-threatening, the Biden administration says patients have the legal right to receive any type of stabilization measure at the discretion of their physician.