Why Urban Hospitals Close
A new GAO analysis explores why urban hospitals – most of them community safety-net hospitals – fail and close. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, urban hospitals generally close for one or a combination of five reasons: financial decline [...]
New Medicaid Work Requirement Could Slam Hospital Finances
The Medicaid work/community engagement requirement included in the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act could cost hospitals millions of dollars – losses that could translate into potential declines of 11.7-13.3 percent in hospital operating margins, according to a Commonwealth Fund analysis [...]
MACPAC Meets
Members of the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission met recently in Washington, D.C. The following is MACPAC’s own summary of its two days of public meetings. MACPAC’s September 2025 meeting began with a summary of Public Law 119-21, [...]
Federal Health Policy Update for September 25
The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for September 19-25. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Federal Funding for Fiscal Year 2026 Telehealth and Acute Hospital Care at Home [...]
Looking at Potential Health Coverage Losses
Changes adopted in the FY 2026 budget reconciliation bill (“the One Big Beautiful Bill” Act) could result in a significant increase in the ranks of the uninsured across the country. According to an Urban Institute analysis supported by the Commonwealth [...]
Federal Health Policy Update for September 18
The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for September 12-18. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. ASH Advocacy ASH contacted House members asking them to block an imminent $8 [...]
Providers Objecting to New HHS Programs
Health care providers are expressing concern about two new programs recently announced by the Department of Health and Human Services: the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Medicare WISeR (Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction) Model and HHS’s 340B Rebate Model [...]
ASH Comments on Medicare Outpatient Rule
ASH has submitted written comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in response to that agency’s proposed CY 2026 Medicare outpatient prospective payment regulation, which presents how CMS envisions paying providers for Medicare-covered outpatient services and regulating those [...]
ASH Comments on Proposed Medicare Doc Pay Rule
ASH has submitted written comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in response to that agency’s proposed 2026 Medicare physician fee schedule rule. Among the issues ASH addresses in its letter are: Its concern that CMS’s proposal to [...]
Federal Health Policy Update for September 11
The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for September 5-11. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. ASH Advocacy ASH sent a message to Congress urging members to include support [...]
