August 7, 2025
Health Insurer / Provider Legislative Agenda: Band-Aid Likely in September CR, More Substantial Package Potentially Later in the Year
With the August recess in full swing for the next few weeks, the various healthcare-related legislative items on Congress’s to-do list (see below) remains lengthy for the rest of the calendar year. We are still…
August 3, 2025
Hospices, IRFs, IPFs: Thoughts on Final FY26 Medicare Payment Rules
Medicare’s final FY26 payment regulations for hospices [CHE, AMED, ADUS, PNTG, BTSG, Gentiva, Compassus, Elara], inpatient rehab facilities (IRFs) [EHC, SEM], and inpatient psych facilities (IPFs) [UHS, ACHC] aligned with expectations for: 1) slightly higher aggregate spending…
June 26, 2025
Hospitals, Obamacare, Medicaid: Parliamentarian Decisions Likely to Force Rewriting on Provider Tax, Uncertain about CSR and Enhanced FMAP Policies
The sizable hole left by the Senate parliamentarian decisions on various Medicaid and Obamacare provisions, which were reported this morning by Senate democrats (here and here) injects uncertainty for hospitals, Obamacare insurers, Medicaid managed care,…
June 8, 2025
[HCA, THC, CYH, hospitals] White House Memo Adds Another Wrinkle to State-Directed Payment Programs in Medicaid
A new complication has arisen for hospitals [HCA, THC, CYH, ARDT, UHS, non-profit / municipally-backed facilities] – and to a lesser extent nursing homes, behavioral providers, and certain physicians – in the debate over payment…
May 16, 2025
[CNC, MOH, ELV, OSCR, ARDT, THC, ACHC]: What’s Next for Healthcare in House’s Reconciliation Proposal
As we head into this weekend, below are our latest thoughts on the healthcare components of the reconciliation bill and where things stand and what changes may be in store. This afternoon’s sidelining of the…
May 12, 2025
Healthcare & Reconciliation: Worst Case Avoided
The House Energy & Commerce Committee’s (E&C) reconciliation draft (text and summary) seems to largely align with our expectations regarding cuts / risks in Medicaid, Obamacare, and pharmacy benefit managers (PBM). While there were still…
April 21, 2025
Medicaid Provider Tax Proposal: Too Little Info to Appropriately Size Threat [UHS, ARDT, MOH, CNC, ACHC, ENSG]
Today’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) posting that it is reviewing a proposed CMS regulation about appropriate use of Medicaid provider taxes offers too little information to appropriately size the threat to hospitals (UHS,…