Complex relationship between maternal unit closures and SDP funds
State-directed payments (SDPs) are credited with maintaining maternal healthcare access. However maternal care units continue to close, despite record SDP funding. Looming cuts to SDPs are widely expected by providers and advisors to result in more maternal care unit closures. But some emerging alternatives aim to improve some access. Maternal care for Medicaid enrollees is…
Fast outpatient shift expected from end of IPO list
The ongoing phaseout of Medicare’s inpatient-only list (IPO) likely will move many of those surgical procedures to outpatient settings with lower reimbursement. That expectation is based on site-of-care shifts that happened when CMS previously removed other surgeries from the IPO list, said Allison Oakes, PhD, chief research officer at Trilliant Health. Medicare removed total knee…
FastFinance: Provider tax rule; ACA disenrollements
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 proposed rule to implement provider tax provisions of the 2025 Medicaid overhaul would be far more strictive than that law required, according to hospital advocates. Also, this week’s Weird Number:…
Medicaid tax rule goes beyond the statute, say hospitals
A proposed rule to implement provider tax provisions of the 2025 Medicaid overhaul would be far more restrictive than that law required, say hospital advocates. Hospitals raised those concerns in responses to a July 21 proposed rule, which is part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), also called the Working Families Tax Cut…
Medicaid tax rule blocks some state taxes
The proposed rule implementing the provider tax provisions of the 2025 Medicaid overhaul would block some approved state taxes from going into effect, say hospital advocates. The provider tax proposed rule is the third regulation issued this year to implement major Medicaid provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), also known as the…
Trump administration affordability push features SDP cuts
Voters are demanding action to improve healthcare affordability ahead of the midterm elections. The Trump administration sees an aggressive push on state-directed payments (SDPs) as a way to respond to that demand. This year, healthcare affordability and availability were the most important issues to Americans for the first time since 2020, according to Gallup polling.…
Uncompensated care improvement uneven
Uncompensated care costs at hospitals have improved somewhat since their spring peak but the national trend wasn’t seen in all regions. Hospitals had smaller year-over year (YoY) increases in their bad debt and charity care as a percentage of gross operating revenue. Those decreased from a 7% jump in May to a 5% increase in…
SDP cuts will start with $8.7 billion in 2028: study
Federal cuts in state-directed payments (SDPs) will begin with an $8.7 billion cut in January 2028, according to a new study. The research, which was published Sept. 9 in the journal Health Affairs, examined the impact on state finances of federal SDP cuts included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). The cut in…
FastFinance: Physician unions and rural hospital funding
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. Physician union activity is picking up this year, including at an unexpected health system. What’s driving it? Also, this week’s Weird Number: $2.5 million. That’s the average annual cost per hospital…
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…