Finance
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HCA to acquire 5 Utah hospitals from Steward Health Care
The move comes less than a week after the state's largest provider, Intermountain Healthcare, announced a merger with SCL Health to expand its footprint to Colorado, Montana and Kansas.
By Rebecca Pifer • Sept. 21, 2021 -
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CommonSpirit's net income jumps to $5.5B in 2021, reversing major COVID-19 loss
However, the nation's largest nonprofit system said the pandemic will likely keep stressing operational performance in the coming fiscal year.
By Rebecca Pifer • Sept. 20, 2021 -
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Ascension rebounds from last summer's pandemic losses
After posting a $1 billion loss during the prior-year period, the nonprofit Catholic giant posted about $5.7 billion in net income for its fiscal year ended June 30.
By Hailey Mensik • Sept. 17, 2021 -
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Delta patients clog hospitals, spur more procedure delays
Intermountain is the latest system to announce it's putting non-emergency procedures back on hold at 13 of its hospitals, and expects the pause to last several weeks, CEO Marc Harrison said.
By Hailey Mensik • Sept. 14, 2021 -
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Preventable hospitalization costs among unvaccinated patients surged to $3.7B in August, KFF says
More than 280,000 hospitalizations from COVID-19 between June and August could have been prevented by vaccination, researchers found.
By Rebecca Pifer • Sept. 14, 2021 -
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HHS to release $25.5B in COVID-19 relief funding for providers
Some providers have been anxiously waiting on additional disbursements from the provider relief fund, especially for the period of the pandemic that saw the highest hospitalization rates.
By Samantha Liss • Sept. 13, 2021 -
Permission granted by Biogen
Biogen offered a window into what's holding up Aduhelm. Investors didn't like what they saw.
At Morgan Stanley’s healthcare conference, executives detailed how the launch of their Alzheimer’s drug has been slower than expected, due in large part to lingering questions about clinical trial data and insurance coverage.
By Jacob Bell • Sept. 10, 2021 -
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Pandemic relief funds were unevenly distributed, didn't account for community burden: Health Affairs
Researchers analyzed HHS data on the Provider Relief Fund and found hospitals serving fewer patients with employer-sponsored insurance received less funding.
By Hailey Mensik • Sept. 09, 2021 -
Courtesy of Humana
Humana reports uptick in MA hospitalizations, dip in non-COVID-19 admissions
An anticipated decline in non-COVID-19 care is expected to offset any increases incurred by COVID-19 testing and treatment costs, the insurer said Tuesday.
By Samantha Liss • Sept. 08, 2021 -
Permission granted by Texas A&M University
Feds sue UPMC, heart surgeon for billing multiple surgeries at same time
The False Claims Act litigation also accuses the health system of ignoring or minimizing complaints by employees and staff.
By Ron Shinkman • Sept. 07, 2021 -
Beaumont, Spectrum move ahead with merger
The two Michigan health systems have signed a formal integration agreement, marking the next step in the merger process that was first announced in June.
By Samantha Liss • Sept. 07, 2021 -
Adeline Kon/Healthcare Dive
AHA presents Congress with laundry list of requests for budget reconciliation bill
The hospital lobby asked that some of the funding be used to address the ongoing labor shortage, shore up mental health services and address ongoing coverage gaps.
By Ron Shinkman • Sept. 03, 2021 -
Actuaries suggest individual insurance premiums won't see large swings in 2022
There is more information available now about how COVID-19 continues to affect healthcare spending and utilization, unlike the 2021 rate-setting season, and "those impacts are not expected to be material," according to a report.
By Samantha Liss • Sept. 03, 2021 -
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Medicare insolvency still expected by 2026, unchanged by COVID-19, trustees say
The forecast is a bit of a bright spot for the otherwise grim financial prospects of the program, as experts worried COVID-19 would result in the fund that finances Medicare Part A running out of money faster than previously expected.
By Rebecca Pifer • Sept. 01, 2021 -
Megan Quinn/Healthcare Dive
Hospital lobby urges Congress to extend Medicare cut relief
The cuts, if they go through, will result in an estimated loss of $36 billion in funding in 2022 alone, the Federation of American Hospitals said.
By Rebecca Pifer • Sept. 01, 2021 -
Sutter to pay $90M in largest False Claims Act settlement against a health system for alleged MA fraud
The record payment comes on the heels of another massive settlement for the nonprofit, adding to the hit on its already stressed bottom line.
By Rebecca Pifer • Aug. 31, 2021 -
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Hospitals boost hiring efforts, sweeten employee benefits, survey finds
The findings from employment services firm Aon contrast sharply with this time last year, when widespread shutdowns of nonemergency care led systems to institute furloughs and other cost-cutting measures.
By Hailey Mensik • Aug. 31, 2021 -
Courtesy of Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Clinic profitable in Q2 as patients return, but COVID-19 surge hits Florida hospitals
The hospital system's rebound from 2020's pandemic-driven losses accelerated, but its facilities in Florida saw an increase in COVID-19 patients in July and August, with some non-emergency care postponed.
By Susan Kelly • Aug. 30, 2021 -
Yujin Kim/Healthcare Dive
Swell of COVID-19 cases likely to pressure hospital margins, Fitch says
As hospitalizations overwhelm facilities, operators need more staffing. But workers are in short supply, causing costs for contracted labor to rise. The ratings agency expects staffing shortages to persist into next year.
By Samantha Liss • Aug. 27, 2021 -
Joe Maher via Getty Images
Headspace, Ginger to merge, creating $3B mental health company
As Headspace Health, the two companies will offer support for mental health symptoms from anxiety to depression to more complex diagnoses, selling direct to consumer and to employers and health plans.
By Rebecca Pifer • Aug. 26, 2021 -
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Hospital volume recovery on shaky ground amid delta, Kaufman Hall reports
Outpatient revenues fell 2% in July from the month prior, suggesting patients might again be delaying non-urgent care due to virus concerns.
By Hailey Mensik • Aug. 25, 2021 -
Spencer Platt via Getty Images
Unvaccinated COVID-19 hospitalizations costing US healthcare system billions, KFF says
Roughly 113,000 of the 185,000 inpatient stays with a COVID-19 diagnosis, or about 61%, could have been prevented by vaccination in June and July, researchers estimated.
By Rebecca Pifer • Aug. 24, 2021 -
Adeline Kon/Healthcare Dive/Healthcare Dive
Mayo Clinic's financials see sharp Q2 rebound
While the report was generally upbeat, the system warned “COVID-19 could still negatively affect the operating margins." And results don't include the late summer surge due to the delta variant that has hammered some regions.
By Ron Shinkman • Aug. 22, 2021 -
Courtesy of Ohio State University
Hospital patient volumes match 2019 levels, will exceed them next year
Hospital executives surveyed by McKinsey also said they will focus on growing surgical volumes — which took a huge hit in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. — but will shift more of them to the outpatient setting.
By Ron Shinkman • Aug. 20, 2021 -
SSM Health, insurer Medica to launch joint venture
Medica will invest an undisclosed sum in Dean Health Plan, a subsidiary of St. Louis-based SSM Health, one of the nation's largest nonprofit health systems.
By Samantha Liss • Aug. 19, 2021
