Sept 30-Oct. 5: ACA Premiums to Decline for First Time
Sept. 27—Final premium rates for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces are expected to keep rolling in next week, even as the Trump administration is anticipating a historic first.
Rural Hospitals Push Congress to Address Key Financial Issue
Sept. 26—Amid rising concern in Congress over rural hospital failures, some stakeholders are renewing their push for a long-sought Medicare payment change that was described during a recent hearing as “one of the single most important” financial fixes for those organizations.
Site-Neutral Payment Reduction Leads Hospital OPPS Concerns
Sept. 25—Among reactions to a range of thorny policy proposals, hospital advocates are urging Medicare to withdraw a $760 million payment cut for outpatient services.
Fitch Maintains Negative Outlook for NFP Hospitals
Sept. 24—Not-for-profit hospitals’ operating profitability appears to have peaked two years ago, a rating agency concluded, as it maintained a negative outlook for the sector.
Value-Based Payment for Physicians Stays Flat: Survey
Sept. 21—The share of physician compensation tied to value-based payment metrics has remained stuck below 15 percent, according to a recent national physician survey.
Sept. 24-28: Hospitals Draw Federal Cost-Reduction Focus
Sept. 20—Congress plans to discuss ways to reduce healthcare costs with an executive from the nation’s largest hospital company next week. Looming in the background will be planned administration actions on provider spending.
Legislation on Surprise Billing Targets Insurers
Sept. 18—Following a recent survey that found the general public blames insurers for unexpected healthcare bills, high-profile draft legislation that would primarily target payers was offered this week.
$1.1 Billion in Provider Regulatory Relief Proposed
Sept. 17—A large portion of the $1.1 billion in ongoing annual regulatory relief proposed this week for providers would come from lower costs for hospital outpatient departments.
Mandatory Bundle Gets Early Positive Results
Sept. 14—Hospitals in Medicare’s first mandatory bundled payment model succeeded in cutting Medicare gross spending in their first year, according to a new analysis. The results come as Trump administration executives say they plan to introduce more mandatory models.
Sept. 17-21: Transparency Garnering Increased Attention
Sept. 13—The Senate will undertake a review of price transparency in health care next week, shortly after hospital advocates urged caution in Medicare’s transparency push.