New special publications from Moody’s Investors Service highlight the continuing deterioration of patient volume in not-for-profit hospitals and the impact of that decline on overall performance. As hospitals transition from a fee-for-service to a value-based model they will experience significant disruption that will continue to impact performance in 2013 and in the coming years. Admissions […]
The pace of consolidations will likely increase over the next several years, and an attractive consolidation model has surfaced—virtual mergers—according to the authors of a new Special Comment by Moody’s Investors Service. Moody’s comment focuses on two broad types of virtual merger structures; in each, debt is separately secured by each partner: Parent-subsidiary model: […]
Employer-sponsored health insurance premiums rose a modest four percent for family coverage and five percent for individual coverage, according to a recent report from the Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET). Kaiser and HRET conduct an annual survey of non-federal public and private employers with three or more workers—the report shows […]
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report last week that urged CMS to tighten access to critical access hospital (CAH) designation. Based on its study of CAHs, the OIG reported that nearly two-thirds of CAHs would not meet the location requirements if required to re-enroll, and the vast majority of these CAHs […]
Medicare inpatient operating payment rates for general acute care hospitals that successfully participate in the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) Program will increase by 0.7 percent in FY 2014. For the 3,400 hospitals that participate in the inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS), this represents an approximate increase of $1.2 billion in 2014. CMS confirmed the […]
Medicare has announced that this October more than 2,000 hospitals will have payments reduced because of high readmission rates. The program that began last October had up to a one percent penalty during its first year; year two beginning October 1 will have a maximum penalty of two percent. Medicare estimates the fines will amount […]
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a report Wednesday on the results of a three-year study by an “A-list” of 19 researchers to analyze variations in health spending. The researchers concluded that big health spending variations are largely driven by differences in the use of post-acute services (e.g., skilled nursing, home health, etc.) by Medicare […]
The first-year report card for the Medicare Pioneer Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) shows that more plans saved money than lost, but also that some providers have decided to either exit the program or take a step back and move to the less risky traditional shared-savings model. The Pioneer ACO model was designed for more advanced, […]
Hospitals and health systems appear to be stronger and healthier today than three years ago, according to a recent Moody’s Investors Service report, and better prepared to withstand the changes in reimbursement under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). “Though total debt outstanding has increased since the recession, there has been a notable improvement in […]
A few weeks ago the media reported extensively on the CMS release of hospital price data. The coverage emphasizes the need for hospitals to provide meaningful price information to patients and communities. Joseph Fifer, HFMA president and CEO, noted, “For price information to be meaningful to patients, it should focus on a patient’s financial obligation—what […]