Rich Daly
About the Author
Rich Daly is senior editor, policy affairs with HFMA, based in Alabama. His healthcare policy and finance reporting experience includes staff writer positions with Modern Healthcare and Congressional Quarterly (both focused on healthcare regulatory and legislative developments); editor-in-chief of 340B Report (the only news outlet focused on daily policy, legal, and business developments in the 340B program); and serving as a content director for Sg2/Vizient Inc (producing reports on financial pain points and solutions for health systems). He previously covered daily news for HFMA and wrote features for Healthcare Financial Management magazine, where his recognitions included the Stephen Barr Award (the only individual achievement award) from the American Society of Business Publication Editors.
Latest Work
Federal 340B overhaul bill unlikely this year
A bipartisan Senate effort at 340B program reform is likely dead this Congress, according to lobbyists and policy watchers. The so-called gang of six group of senators has been working on an overhaul of the program since 2024 that aims to address concerns of both providers and drugmakers. However, that effort has not advanced beyond…
States boost Medicaid budgets as enrollments decline
Amid ongoing and projected Medicaid enrollment decreases, most states are boosting their Medicaid budget proposals. Nationally, Medicaid enrollment is shrinking. From December 2024 to December 2025, national Medicaid and CHIP enrollment has decreased 4%, from 78.9 million to 75.7 million, according to CMS. That has continued into 2026, with Wells Fargo analysts reporting a 2%…
FastFinance: Health system capex plans; Medicare IPPS impacts
HFMA’s FastFinance newsletter is now a podcast. Host Rich Daly discusses the most current and relevant healthcare news, delivered in an easily digestible format. Hospitals and health systems are dialing back their capex in 2026 and changing where those dollars flow. Learn the details and what they mean. Also, this week’s Weird Number: 34.9% is…
Growth projects lead amid reduced capex
Even as health systems reduce their capital investment, they’re focusing greater shares of funds on expansion efforts, according to a recent survey. Health system and hospital capital investments are declining and few are expecting significant increases in the next two years, according to a Sage Growth Partners survey of 101 health system and hospital executives.…
Hospitals see danger to SDPs in fraud fight
Hospitals are worried that a coming Trump administration fraud-fighting effort will go after Medicaid state-directed payments (SDPs). The concern was raised by various hospital advocates responding to the administration’s solicitation for targets in its coming anti-fraud regulations, called the Comprehensive Regulations to Uncover Suspicious Healthcare (CRUSH). That request for information (RFI) specifically asked about fraud-fighting…
Next reconciliation bill to target healthcare
Congressional leaders said they plan to target healthcare spending as part of a new budget reconciliation bill that could be enacted by July. The chairmen of both the Senate and House budget committees said in recent weeks that they will start crafting the instructions for a new reconciliation bill, according to Congressional Quarterly reporting (subscription…
Federal scrutiny of contracting continues
A new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) task force will include healthcare contracting among its priorities, according to attorneys. The FTC Healthcare Task Force was announced in March to coordinate existing healthcare enforcement and advocacy efforts across the agency. “Consolidation and anticompetitive conduct have distorted the economic landscape in many healthcare markets,” Andrew Ferguson, chairman of…
FastFinance: Hospital non-patient revenue; ACA plan changes
HFMA’s FastFinance newsletter is now a podcast. Host Rich Daly discusses the most current and relevant healthcare news, delivered in an easily digestible format. Most hospital revenue is from non-patient-care sources, according to a new analysis. The shares of patient-care revenue vary widely by hospital type. Also, this week’s Weird Number: 40%. That’s the increase…
Hospitals object to ACA marketplace changes
Proposed changes to the rules of the ACA marketplaces will shift more costs onto hospitals, industry advocates told CMS. The comments came in response to a proposed rule for 2027 marketplace plans that aimed to stabilize enrollment from 2026 to 2027. “Hospitals are often the providers of last resort for many patients, and policies that…
Rural hospitals seeing signs of financial hope
After years of struggling with financially precarious positions, rural hospitals saw their overall finances begin to improve in 2025. Both individual hospital strategies and external payment changes could determine whether that trend continues. The finding of overall improvement in rural hospital finances nationwide came from Chartis in its annual report tracking their finances.a From 2023…