Hartford City, Ind.-based IU Health Blackford Hospital will close its emergency department and no longer offer inpatient services due to a reduction in patient volume, the Muncie Star Press reported June 30. 

The Supreme Court on June 30 struck down President Joe Biden's plan to forgive more than $400 billion in student loan debt, meaning thousands of students pursuing careers in the healthcare industry will be on the hook for repaying tuition costs. 

Liberty (Mo.) Hospital aims to partner with a health system to expand its services and capitalize on outpatient migration and value-based care. 

The Healthcare Financial Management Association's new CEO, Ann Jordan, said the organization must set new goals to "meet both current and future needs in the profession," according to a June 25 HFMA article. 

For one Texas facility, the decision to convert to a rural emergency hospital came down to survivability.

Coral Gables-based Baptist Health South Florida is offering its executives at the director level and above a "one-time opportunity" to apply for voluntary separation in a bid to cut costs, according to a June 29 Miami Herald report.

Several hospitals and health systems have experienced downgrades to their financial ratings this year amid ongoing operating losses, declines in investment values and challenging work environments.

Marietta, Ohio-based Memorial Health System saw its outlook revised to negative as meaningful balance sheet growth and improved financial flexibility is likely several years away, Fitch said June 29.

UnitedHealth Group's Optum, now with 70,000 employed or aligned physicians across the U.S., is continuing its impressive growth trajectory across various areas of healthcare. 

If primary care funding is increased by $130 billion over the next five years, the U.S. would come close to providing such care to every person in the country, Sen. Bernie Sanders said in a June 28 opinion piece in The Guardian.

The Pennsylvania House passed a bill that would relieve medical debt for low-income residents, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

MultiCare Health System, a 12-hospital organization based in Tacoma, Wash., will lay off 229 employees, or about 1 percent of its 23,000 staff members, including about two dozen leaders, as part of cost-cutting efforts, the health system said June 29.

Healthcare costs will increase by a projected 7 percent in 2024 as the healthcare industry continues to face high inflation, rising wages and other costs, which are compounded by workforce shortages, according to a report from the PwC Health Research Institute.

The nonprofit healthcare sector could take at least two more years to recover to somewhere near pre-pandemic levels after the "rapid deterioration" in financial performance during much of 2022, S&P Global said in a June 28 midyear update.

Michael Connelly is the former CEO of Cincinnati-based Mercy Health, serving in that role between 1995 and 2017. The author of "The Journey's End," which highlights his frustration with billing issues at the end of life, Mr. Connelly spoke with Becker's about such frustrations and recommended possible solutions to billing and coding as a whole.

Hospitals are more likely to comply with price transparency requirements when they face larger financial penalties for noncompliance, a study published June 29 in JAMA Network Open found. 

From HFMA naming its 2023 MAP Awards winners to an RCM firm closing that 489,830 patients were affected by a third-party data breach, here are seven revenue cycle management headlines to know from June: 

Greensburg, Pa.-based Independence Health System laid off 53 employees this week and has cut 226 positions — including resignations, retirements and elimination of vacant positions — since January, The Butler Eagle reported June 28.

Yale New Haven (Conn.) Health saw its default rating and that on a series of bonds downgraded one notch to "A+" from "AA-" amid continued operating woes, Fitch said June 28.

A proposed partnership between Marietta, Ga.-based Wellstar Health System and Augusta (Ga.) University Health has drawn scrutiny from lawmakers and civil rights advocates alike — but the health systems defended their vision in a June 27 public hearing.