Let Healthcare Dive’s free newsletter keep you informed, straight from your inbox.
Providers will need to make difficult decisions amid growing headwinds, according to a new report from S&P Global Ratings. Choices that could preserve their credit rating could reduce care access.
stock.adobe.com/Kay A/peopleimages.com
High healthcare costs are a longstanding issue in America. Nationwide, the country paid $13,942 per capita on healthcare in 2023 — nearly 40% more than the second highest spending country, Switzerland, and 82% more than the comparable country average, according to a KFF-Peterson tracker.
Despite efforts to make healthcare more affordable, including passing the Affordable Care Act in 2010, costs have proved sticky, due to a complex payer-payee system, healthcare ownership structures and cost inflation, including of labor and technology.
Healthcare costs could continue to climb if Medicaid enrollment decreases and reimbursement to providers falls due to proposed federal legislation, according to the report.
Republicans have proposed slashing the Medicaid program and freezing provider tax programs at current rates, limiting states’ ability to fund Medicaid reimbursement for providers.
In such a scenario, providers could experience negative credit rating impacts through decreased margins or lower patient visits. Nonprofit health systems and those that that rely heavily on government payers for a significant portion of revenue are most likely to be impacted by the proposed changes, according to the report.
Providers may have to decrease the number of services offered, be more selective about the patients or geographies they serve, or increase the cost of services in the face of headwinds, the report warned.
“These measures generally constrain access and affordability of care,” the report said. “In other words, what may be good for preserving or improving financial performance and credit quality may not always align with the objective of increased access to affordable care.”
Get the free daily newsletter read by industry experts
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, suggested Congress could once again move to overhaul PBMs’ controversial business practices after legislators pass President Donald Trump’s conservative megabill this summer.
The National Institutes of Health is building a strategic plan on artificial intelligence in healthcare, an agency official said during a meeting held by the Coalition for Health AI.
Subscribe to Healthcare Dive for top news, trends & analysis
Get the free daily newsletter read by industry experts
The National Institutes of Health is building a strategic plan on artificial intelligence in healthcare, an agency official said during a meeting held by the Coalition for Health AI.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, suggested Congress could once again move to overhaul PBMs’ controversial business practices after legislators pass President Donald Trump’s conservative megabill this summer.
The free newsletter covering the top industry headlines