White House zooms in on hospital contracts
The Trump administration is tightening scrutiny of provisions of contracts of hospitals with payers, which could spur additional lawsuits or legislation, say attorneys. The White House Council of Economic Advisers issued a June 18 memo laying out its case against health systems’ use of several contract provisions focused on: The memo couched a nationwide ban…
DOJ’s OhioHealth antitrust settlement affects payer contracts
The U.S. Department of Justice and OhioHealth have settled antitrust litigation that hinged on allegations concerning the health system’s contracting practices. A June 16 filing with the Southern District of Ohio federal court states that the parties, which also include the state of Ohio, reached a consent decree in which OhioHealth does not admit wrongdoing…
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…
Nathan Kaufman: Hospital-based anesthesia and radiology operate in a broken financial model
The good ol’ days of hospital-based physicians providing services at no cost in exchange for exclusivity are over, creating significant disruptions. Health systems are facing a growing shortage of anesthesiologists and radiologists, a shortfall that is driven by a broken business model for those types of services. Underpayment for anesthesia and radiology care by Medicare and Medicaid combined with a lack of experience in related revenue cycle management and high…
News Briefs: Hospital labor costs rose by almost 40% between 2019 and early 2022
As published in hfm magazine, a monthly roundup of top news for healthcare finance professionals.