hospitals

Health Care Implications of Senate Reconciliation Bill

On Tuesday the Senate passed an FY 2026 budget reconciliation bill by a vote of 51-50, with Vice President Vance casting the tie-breaking vote. The bill cuts $1 trillion in Medicaid spending and keeps most of the Medicaid provisions included in the version released by the Senate Finance Committee in mid-June. The bill passed by the Senate creates a fund for rural providers of $50 billion over five years. The major Medicaid provisions in the bill include: A freeze on the size of Medicaid provider taxes, phased down reductions of current taxes toward a new, lower limit for many states, [...]

joe2025-07-02T12:58:19-04:00July 3, 2025|hospitals, Medicaid, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicaid DSH allotments, Medicaid managed care, Medicaid regulations, Medicare|

Federal Health Policy Update for June 12

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for June 6-12. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress Republican senators continue to work on their version of a reconciliation bill with a goal of passage by July 4, although that deadline may slip. Some Senate committees have begun releasing their portions of the bill but the Finance Committee’s bill, with its tax and Medicaid provisions, has not yet been released. Among the majority party in the Senate, fault lines around the House-passed reconciliation bill remain around Medicaid provider taxes, state [...]

joe2025-06-12T16:32:26-04:00June 12, 2025|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, hospitals, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid managed care, Medicaid regulations, Medicare, Medicare post-acute care, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC, Telehealth|

Hospital Charity Care, Debt Collection Practices Vary

An analysis of the charity care policies of 2500 hospitals found considerable variation in their practices and in their efforts to collect unpaid bills. According to a review by the Lown Institute, most hospitals offer charity care but the income thresholds for qualifying for such assistance vary widely from hospital to hospital, from as low as household income of 100 percent of the federal poverty level to as much as 600 percent of the federal poverty level. Those standards vary, moreover, even in the same community, with neighboring hospitals sometimes having considerable differences in their thresholds for providing some or [...]

joe2025-06-05T14:41:09-04:00June 9, 2025|hospitals|

Federal Health Policy Update for June 5

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for May 30 to June 5. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress Congress returned to Washington D.C., where Republican senators continue to work on their version of a reconciliation bill with a goal of passage by the full Congress by July 4. Some Senate committees have begun releasing their portions of the bill but the committees with jurisdiction over Medicaid – the Finance and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committees – have not committed to a timeline for their bills. [...]

joe2025-06-05T16:50:48-04:00June 5, 2025|Congress, hospitals, Medicaid, Medicare, Medicare reimbursement policy|

Federal Health Policy Update for May 22

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for May 16-22. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress: Reconciliation Early Thursday morning the House of Representatives passed its version of an FY 2025 budget reconciliation bill by a vote of 215-214. The bill underwent a number of changes during the hours before its passage and its health care provisions now include $800 billion in Medicaid cuts over the next ten years. The Congressional Budget Office projects that the bill, mostly because of the Medicaid cuts, will lead to 8.6 million [...]

joe2025-05-23T10:22:33-04:00May 23, 2025|340b, Affordable Care Act, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, COVID-19, deficit reduction, hospitals, Medicaid, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicaid DSH allotments, Medicaid managed care, Medicaid regulations, Medicare, Medicare reimbursement policy|

Are Medicaid Provider Taxes, State-Directed Payments in Play?

Even as the House Energy and Commerce Committee contemplates how it will reach its assigned target of $880 billion in spending cuts mostly through Medicaid cuts, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services may be following a similar course by targeting two potential changes that Congress is already thought to be considering: changes in policies governing Medicaid provider taxes and state-directed Medicaid payments. Recently, CMS filed a proposed regulation titled “Preserving Medicaid Funding for Vulnerable Populations – Closing a Health Care-Related Tax Loophole” to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. Speculation centers on whether this proposed policy [...]

joe2025-04-24T15:54:20-04:00April 28, 2025|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, hospitals, Medicaid, Medicaid managed care, Medicaid regulations|

Federal Health Policy Update for April 24

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for April 18-24. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress The House and Senate are in recess until April 28. Upon their return to Washington D.C., committees will begin marking up reconciliation legislation for submission to their respective chambers’ budget committees by May 9. The Energy and Commerce Committee is expected to mark up its bill, with $880 billion in cuts, the week of May 5. The committee is expected to seek nearly $550 billion in cuts to Medicaid spending, with the [...]

joe2025-04-24T14:45:26-04:00April 24, 2025|340b, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Congress, hospitals, Medicaid, Medicaid managed care, Medicare, Medicare reimbursement policy|

Federal Health Policy Update for April 17

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for April 11-17. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. The White House President Trump signed an executive order titled “Lowering Drug Prices by Once Again Putting Americans First” that directs the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to take steps to lower prescription drug costs for patients. The order addresses several prescription drug-related policies, including: the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program seeking better Medicare prices for drugs not subject to the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program accelerating FDA drug [...]

joe2025-04-17T17:14:31-04:00April 17, 2025|340b, Accountable Care Organization, ACO, Alternative payment models, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, Congress, hospitals, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicare, Medicare reimbursement policy|

Federal Health Policy Update for April 10

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for April 4-10. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress The House today passed the budget resolution passed by the Senate last week. Passage of the same budget resolution by both chambers now enables Congress to begin work on a reconciliation bill to enact President Trump’s priorities on tax cuts, border security, and energy policies. Until this morning, more than a dozen Republican House members had opposed the Senate-passed budget resolution because they believed the Senate’s budget did not require enough spending [...]

joe2025-04-10T16:05:02-04:00April 10, 2025|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, hospitals, Medicaid, Medicaid managed care, Medicaid regulations, Medicare, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy|

Non-Profit Hospitals See Improved 2024 Financial Performance

Non-profit hospitals performed better financially in 2024 than they did in 2023, according to a new analysis by Fitch Ratings. Attributing the improved performance to improved volume and revenue and reduced upward pressure on labor costs, Fitch found that the median operating margin among non-profit hospitals rose from -0.5 percent in 2023 to 1.2 percent in 2024. Although improved, non-profit hospital financial performance has not returned to its pre-pandemic levels. Even so, they appear to have survived the unwinding of increased pandemic-era Medicaid enrollment, with Medicaid’s median share of their gross patient revenue declining only from 16.6 percent to 16.2 [...]

joe2025-04-01T11:25:22-04:00April 2, 2025|hospitals|