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
Rural funds roll out amid small hospital paperwork challenges
The first rounds of federal funding for rural healthcare improvement are rolling from the federal government to the states to distribute to their hospitals and other awardees. For some independent rural hospitals, the lack of administrative staff created paperwork obstacles to those funds. The first $10 billion of a five-year, $50 billion total in grants…
Physician union drive picks up steam
Physician unionization efforts have expanded this year from a previous focus on those in training to established clinicians. The latest physician unionization actions included: “The worrisome aspect of this developing trend is that it seems to be accelerating,” Chris Cimino, CEO at Chessboard Consulting Inc. and a hospital labor advisor, said about physician unionization. A…
340B policies in OPPS rule draw hospital concerns
A proposed cut in Medicare payments for 340B drugs and an acceleration in repayments related to a previous 340B cut are leading concerns for some hospitals and health systems. The two 340B policies in the proposed rule for the outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) were among a range of provisions in the 299-page rule issued…
12 hospital M&A trends to know
An increasing number of hospitals targeted by mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is one of several consolidation trends recently identified by a tracking firm. The LevinPro HC U.S. Hospital M&A: Quarterly Activity report, issued July 30, identified a range of healthcare deal trends. Here are the top 12 findings:
FastFinance: Health system OBBBA effects, DSH court ruling
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. A seven-state health system has garnered federal rural funding under the 2025 federal healthcare overhaul, even as it prepares for adverse impacts next year. Also, this week’s Weird Number: $1.8 trillion.…
Health system sees early OBBBA benefits, coming challenges
A seven-state health system has garnered federal rural funding under the 2025 federal healthcare overhaul, even as it prepares for adverse impacts next year. Nick Olson, executive vice president, CFO and treasurer of Sanford Health, said the health system has garnered $36 million in Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) funding to use as startup capital…
Single-payer system to cut $300 billion from providers: analysis
Hospitals and other providers would face a $300 billion annual revenue cut under a single-payer approach that sets all payments to Medicare rates, according to a high-profile Yale analysis. Adopting a single-payer system would save more than 100,000 lives and cost $1 trillion less each year, claims a new preprint study led by researchers at…
$3 billion annual hospital VBP cost: study
Just four mandatory value-based payment (VBP) programs cost hospitals $3 billion in higher administrative costs every year, according to new research. The administrative cost findings of research published in August in JAMA Health Forum could help project hospital costs as mandatory VBP programs continue to propagate. The researchers identified changes in administrative costs when Inpatient…
Businesses increase support for hospital price caps
Business groups increasingly support various approaches to cap hospital prices. Although many business groups continue their traditional opposition to any government price controls, an increasing number of business professionals see ones focused on hospitals and health systems as an effective option. That support was shown in a new National Alliance for Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions (NAHPC)…
FastFinance: Capex trends; new 340B bill
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. Hospital and health system capital expenditures in fiscal 2025 reached their highest since the start of the financial crisis in 2008, according to Fitch Ratings Also, this week’s Weird Number: $137…