News Briefs: Medicaid DSH payment cut barely averted in September, still possible in November
Hospitals received a last-day reprieve from substantial cuts to Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments, with House leaders reversing course Sept. 30 and ushering through a six-week government funding package. Language in the bill ensured the start of a four-year Medicaid DSH cut amounting to $32 billion was pushed back from Oct. 1 to Nov.…
Hospitals push back on Senate report that calls out lack of spending on charity care
Not-for-profit (NFP) hospitals continue to be the subject of congressional scrutiny, with the chair of a key Senate committee issuing a report that questions whether they provide levels of charity care that are commensurate with their tax exemption. The report was released Oct. 10 by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), chair of the Senate Health, Education,…
News Briefs: Hospitals foresee adverse impacts from the FY24 inpatient payment rule
The FY24 final rule for Medicare inpatient payments didn’t bring hospitals the type of rate update they had sought, and for some organizations, a bigger concern is changes to uncompensated care (UC) payments. The regulations, which take effect Oct. 1, establish a 3.1% increase in operating payment rates, on average, for hospitals that meet quality-reporting…
Congress puts the community benefit standard for nonprofit hospitals under the microscope
The criteria that establish hospitals’ tax-exempt status are coming under closer scrutiny, with a bipartisan quartet of senators asking the IRS to ramp up its oversight of compliance with the community benefit standard. Sens. Bill Cassidy, MD (R-La.), Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) sent an Aug. 7 letter to the…
Research finds widespread issues with community health needs assessments developed by nonprofit hospitals
A majority of hospitals make the required CHNA documents accessible, but many don’t include all the obligatory elements.
Current financial reporting practices inhibit healthcare policymaking, researchers say
Creation of a national database with information from health systems’ audited financial statements would give policymakers a better sense of how to respond to financial trends, according to researchers.
Determining cost of capital can be a tricky matter for not-for-profits
An important question for healthcare finance leaders is, “What is our cost of capital?” The answer to this question, however, is not at all straightforward and ultimately depends on context, with tax exemption possibly hanging in the balance.
Everything you wanted to know about the CARES Act PRF but HHS was afraid to answer through July 16
HFMA's Chad Mulvany says taxing for-profit providers’ PRF funding seems counterproductive, counterintuitive and counter to Congress’s intention, and could particularly hurt independent physician practices.