Despite economic pressures on rural hospital systems, Midland (Texas) Hospital is predicting a strong financial year with its 2023 budget, chron.com reported Jan. 4.

Coeur d'Alene, Idaho-based Kootenai Health is projecting full-year 2022 losses of approximately $45 million but is also forecasting a return to profit this year and beyond, the healthcare system reported in a filing Jan. 4.

A group of senators have sent a letter to Wells Fargo and Synchrony Financial over concerns that the banks' medical credit cards may be causing unnecessary financial problems for consumers, Bloomberg reported Jan. 3. 

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal missed a "critical opportunity" to fully discuss the financial plight of the nation's hospitals and the care they provide, American Hospital Association President Rick Pollack wrote in a letter to the newspaper's opinion pages Jan 2.

Many business executives and economists have predicted a recession in 2023, but Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi sees a "slowcession" instead, according to CNN.

The Mississippi State Medical Association said that as hospitals close across the state, access to life-saving care becomes a threat to all Mississippians, and while a debate as to why hospitals are closing remains the primary topic of discourse, "the immediate crisis progressively engulfs [the hospitals]."

Hospitals experienced a slight boost to operating margins in November, but not enough to restore the median negative margins that persisted for 2022 to date.

Labor expenses remain the biggest challenge facing the U.S. nonprofit hospital and health systems sector and will not fade anytime soon, Fitch Ratings said in its outlook for 2023.

Nearly 70 percent of the No Surprises Act independent dispute resolution cases that have been closed were deemed ineligible for the process, according to a recent CMS report. 

Hundreds of hospitals in the U.S. are at immediate risk of closing, largely due not to financial mismanagement but inadequate reimbursements, according to the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. 

A number of healthcare systems, or individual hospitals, detailed their levels of debt when reporting financial results in December 2022. Here is a summary of some of them:

Ten parties have initiated 75 percent of all disputes involving out-of-network emergency and nonemergency items in services under the No Surprises Act's independent dispute resolution process, according to a recent CMS report. 

More cities could take steps to relieve medical debt for their residents, after local officials in Toledo, Ohio, committed American Rescue Plan funds to pay off medical debts, The Toledo Blade reported Jan. 2. 

The U.S. nonprofit healthcare system faces a very long road ahead to any potential financial recovery as it deals with persistent operating pressures and investment market volatility, S&P Global Ratings said in a December report where the agency also downgraded its sector view to negative.

The Nebraska Hospital Association is asking state lawmakers for a 9.6 percent Medicaid reimbursement rate in 2023 and a 7.7 percent rate in 2024, CBS affiliate KMTV reported Jan. 2. 

A long-delayed hospital in rural Arkansas is due to open Jan. 10 now that it has received its state license, the hospital's CEO told Becker's.

The New Orleans City Council included a line item in the city's 2023 budget aimed at eliminating up to $130 million in medical debt, the Louisiana Illuminator reported Jan. 2. 

Five revenue cycle management companies — including R1 RCM and Wakefield & Associates — have announced executive leadership changes since Nov. 8. 

Ten hospitals or health systems recently posted job listings seeking revenue cycle management expertise.

After declaring bankruptcy last year, Watsonville Community Hospital became publicly funded in August and is expected to unveil a new three- to five-year strategic business plan next year, according to the Santa Cruz Sentinel.