In an opinion piece published by the Worcester Business Journal, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey argues online price-shopping tools are important, but more needs to be done to provide patients with affordable and accessible healthcare.

Ooda Health, a  startup company with offices in San Francisco and Salt Lake City, is running a pilot program with insurers and hospitals as it tries to fix healthcare's medical billing problems, according to CNBC.

Dallas-based Steward Health Care will close St. Luke's Medical Center in Phoenix on Nov. 24, according to the Phoenix Business Journal.

Three major for-profit hospital operators saw their stock prices rise last week.

The healthcare revenue cycle has become even more complex in recent years for several reasons, including increased patient financial responsibility, more complicated payer contracts and greater regulatory demands. As a result, providers across the nation have been forced to change their approaches to revenue cycle management.

In an opinion piece published by The Washington Post, a board member of Baltimore-based University of Maryland Health System argues that a benchmarking approach is not the right federal legislative solution to address surprise medical bills.

Missouri officials have stopped at least $2 million in payments to companies seeking reimbursement for fraudulent genetic tests provided for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, they told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The opening of freestanding emergency departments increased emergency out-of-pocket spending in several states' markets over five years, according to a study published Oct. 23 in Academic Emergency Medicine.

Becker's Hospital Review reported on the following payment model updates from CMS or HHS in October:

Citing a need for more funding, Baltimore officials want to revisit and potentially renegotiate a long-term, $60 million agreement with 14 nonprofit hospitals and universities that calls for the institutions to make annual payments to the city in lieu of taxes, according to The Baltimore Sun.

Consolidation among hospitals and health systems leads to higher prices and higher health insurance premiums for Americans, according to an analysis from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

Healthcare providers interested in participating in the federal government's new kidney care payment models have until Jan. 22 to apply, according to the American Hospital Association. 

King of Prussia, Pa.-based Universal Health Services saw revenues increase in the third quarter of 2019, but its profit dropped 43 percent year over year.

Here are six articles published in October about legislation to address surprise medical bills.

At least five health systems have joined an alliance to lobby for and explore Medicare payment methodology changes that would link certain reimbursement to direct costs rather than chargemaster rates, the Healthcare Financial Management Association confirmed to Becker's Hospital Review.

About 900 women's health clinics have lost federal funding after the Trump administration implemented a rule that prohibits taxpayer-funded family planning clinics from performing abortions or providing referrals for abortions, according to NBC News. 

Ten hospitals and health systems posted job listings seeking revenue cycle management expertise in the last week:

The Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network, a public-private partnership launched by HHS in 2015, has set new goals for linking healthcare payments to the value of care provided rather than the amount of care provided. 

West Palm Beach, Fla-based Rennova Health said in a months-delayed public disclosure filing that it was millions of dollars in debt and lacked the ability to make basic operations payments like payroll and rent in 2018, according to WBIR.

Walker County Hospital Corp., which operates Huntsville (Texas) Memorial Hospital, is preparing to file for bankruptcy, and local hospital district board members are trying to finalize financing to take over the hospital, according to The Huntsville Item.