Most patients do not understand the details of preventive care cost-sharing exemptions in consumer-directed health plans, and because of this, patients often avoid seeking preventive care even when it is free or low-cost, according to a study published in Health…

Medicare Recovery Auditors (RACs) rate of claims denials to hospitals has continued to grow, as the number of denials was up 23 percent in the most recent quarter, according to the American Hospital Association's RACTrac Survey (pdf) results from the…

Although Standard & Poor's Ratings Services expects ratings for hospitals, insurers and other healthcare providers to remain stable in 2013, several questions remain at the forefront for those financially invested in the industry.

Medicaid cuts and increasing amounts of uncompensated care dug into the earnings of Franklin, Tenn.-based IASIS Healthcare (pdf), as the for-profit hospital operator recorded a loss of $413,000 in the fourth quarter of its 2012 fiscal year.

With operating margins on the decline and charity care rising quickly, hospitals in western Pennsylvania are beginning to feel "great financial stress," according to the year-end financial report from the Hospital Council of Western Pennsylvania.

In a bipartisan effort, 30 U.S. senators sent a letter to Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and the Senate Finance Committee advocating for the extension of Medicare payment programs to rural hospitals.

Health insurance consumers received roughly $1.5 billion in insurer rebates and cost savings last year though the health reform law's medical loss ratio, but many health insurers boosted their own profitability as well, according to a study from The Commonwealth…

When Terry Collins arrived at Aspen (Colo.) Valley Hospital in December 2004 as CFO, the hospital was in a great deal of financial distress.

St. Louis-based Ascension Health is the largest Catholic and the largest non-profit health system in the United States, with hospitals in nearly half of all states. Katherine Arbuckle, CFO of Ascension Health, makes sure the multibillion-dollar organization has the right…

Gateway Health Plan, a managed care plan that covers Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries in Pennsylvania, has ended its Medicaid contract with three area hospitals, all of which are operated by Naples, Fla.-based Health Management Associates, according to a Central Penn…