Here are five articles recently published by Becker's Hospital Review that offer insight on balance billing, uncompensated care costs and more.
1. Majority of states lack laws to protect patients from balance billing
Most states do not have laws that protect patients from balance billing by an out-of-network physician for care delivered in an emergency department or in-network hospital, according to an analysis of laws in all 50 states and the District of Columbia by researchers at Georgetown University.
2. 9 notes on the 2018 proposed rule for MACRA's Quality Payment Program
CMS issued the proposed rule for the 2018 performance year of the Quality Payment Program under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act.
3. Moody's: Hospital uncompensated care costs will rise under proposed Senate bill
Moody's Investors Service says Senate Republicans' proposed healthcare bill, called the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017, would negatively affect hospital finances by causing the uninsured rate to rise.
4. Medicaid expansion had a 'close to zero' net effect on nonprofit hospital finances, report finds
While the ACA's Medicaid expansion lowered uncompensated care costs for nonprofit hospitals, those savings were counteracted by Medicaid payment shortfalls, according to a recent report by Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan research institute AcademyHealth.
5. Analysis: 68% of patients with bills of $500 or less didn't pay full statement in 2016
An increasing number of patients fail to pay their full hospital bills, according to a TransUnion Healthcare analysis.
More articles on healthcare finance:
Surgical hospital owner, operator files for bankruptcy
Centegra to end acute inpatient care at Illinois hospital as losses mount
Stocks slide after Senate delays vote on healthcare bill