Healthcare finance news for hospital and health system leaders

Four Chicago-area hospitals have suspended obstetrics services in the last month, with leaders running the facilities pointing to similar challenges: low Medicaid payment, rising costs to staff OB units and decreased birth volumes. Across the country, maternity service closures haven’t…

Marietta, Ohio-based Memorial Health System is waiting on approximately $80 million in Medicaid supplemental payments pending CMS approval, CEO Scott Cantley told Becker’s.  About $60 million is tied to the Ohio Rural Tax Pilot Program, a state-directed payment program —…

Manchester, N.H.-based Elliot Health System received a credit rating upgrade from S&P Global Ratings as the organization prepares for its planned separation from SolutionHealth. S&P raised Elliot Health’s bond rating to “A” from “A-” on Oct. 2, according to a…

In the first six months of Medicare’s Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction pilot, the use of targeted services fell in participating states relative to the rest of the country, according to a research letter published Oct. 26 in JAMA. The…

Kentucky has erased $153 million in medical debt for 67,000 residents, according to a news release from Gov. Andy Beshear. The debt relief is part of the Team Kentucky Medical Debt Relief Program, which the governor established through a Sept.…

From Optum Health’s earnings rebound to a new chief marketing officer, here are 10 updates on UnitedHealth Group and its subsidiaries that Becker’s has reported since Oct. 7: 1. UnitedHealthcare and the Ohio Chamber of Commerce agreed to settle a…

Elective surgical demand softened at the four major publicly traded for-profit health systems in the third quarter of 2026 even as patient volumes grew, with executives pointing to ACA exchange coverage losses and rising out-of-pocket costs. “I would not say…

Two large nonprofit health systems — Cincinnati-based Bon Secours Mercy Health and St. Louis-based Ascension — have struck multibillion-dollar deals to grow their ASC footprint, but the CEO of Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare sees them as allies rather than rivals.  “I…

Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare recorded total revenue of $19.8 billion in the third quarter of 2026, up from $19.2 billion during the third quarter of 2025.  The for-profit system operates in three geographically organized groups: HCA also operates seven hospitals…

States are earmarking specific slices of their Rural Health Transformation Program dollars for technology upgrades, service expansions and workforce pipeline development. CMS has announced 54 such efforts since August. Each state’s full fiscal year 2026 award was set in December…