Non-Profit Hospitals Face Near-Term Challenges
The end of Affordable Care Act enhanced health insurance premiums will pose a financial challenge for many of the nation’s non-profit hospitals. The challenge to hospitals will be greatest in states that did not take advantage of Affordable Care Act [...]
Federal Health Policy Update for February 5
The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for January 30 through February 5. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress On Tuesday Congress passed, and the president immediately signed, [...]
Demise of Enhanced Tax Credits Drives Lower ACA Plan Enrollment
The end of enhanced tax credits for Affordable Care Act health plans has led to a five percent decrease in the number of people who enrolled in ACA plans during the open enrollment period that ended on January 15. [...]
Federal Health Policy Update for January 29
The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for January 23-29. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress The Senate today failed to advance a package of the remaining six FY [...]
Providers Continue to Dominate Fee Dispute Resolution
Health care providers won the vast majority of the fee disputes adjudicated through the No Surprises Act’s Independent Dispute Resolution process during the first half of 2025. The volume of those disputes submitted to arbitration rose nearly 40 percent over [...]
Erosion of Rural Maternity Care Continues
At a rate of more than two a month since the end of 2020, rural hospitals have closed or announced that they will be closing their maternity units – 124 in all by the end of 2026. As a result, [...]
Federal Health Policy Update for January 22
The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for January 16-22. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. ASH Advocacy In a letter to House and Senate Appropriations Committee leaders, ASH [...]
ASH Urges Congressional Leaders to Support Health Care Extenders
In a letter to House and Senate Appropriations Committee leaders, the Alliance of Safety-Net Hospitals has urged those officials to support passage of the health care “extenders” included in the recently proposed FY 2026 Consolidated Appropriations Act. Specifically, ASH encouraged [...]
MedPAC Meets
MedPAC’s commissioners held their latest public meeting on Thursday, January 15 and Friday, January 16. The primary subject of the meeting was discussion of MedPAC’s preliminary recommendations for Medicare rates for 2027. The topics on the meeting’s agenda were: Medicare [...]
White House Unveils Health Care Plan
The White House has unveiled “The Great Healthcare Plan,” which it describes as “… a broad healthcare initiative that will slash prescription drug prices, reduce insurance premiums, hold big insurance companies accountable, and maximize price transparency in the American healthcare [...]
