Healthcare finance news for hospital and health system leaders

St. Louis-based Ascension is extending its revenue cycle partnership with R1 through fiscal year 2037.  The 11-year renewal follows Ascension’s enterprisewide rollout of Phare OS, R1’s AI-driven revenue operating system, according to a Nov. 9 news release. The platform automates…

St. Louis-based Ascension will close an insurance unit and lay off 51 workers, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Nov. 7. The unit, Ascension Care Management Insurance Holdings in St. Louis, will lay off workers Jan. 8-15, 2027, according to a…

Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente recorded an operating income of $495 million (1.4% operating margin) in the third quarter of 2026, up from $218 million (0.7% margin) during the same period last year, according to its Nov. 6 financial report. Seven…

The Pennsylvania Department of Health revoked Sharon (Pa.) Regional Medical Center’s license, effective Nov. 17, and ordered the hospital to close after its electricity provider moved to cut power over an unpaid bill, according to a Nov. 4 order obtained…

Health systems across the country are making very different bets on whether to be in the insurance business. Carle Health, Michigan Medicine, Memorial Hermann, Providence, and UMass Memorial have all shuttered or sold their insurance arms within the last two…

Port Angeles, Wash.-based Olympic Medical Center is considering converting to a smaller critical access hospital, according to a report from Radio Pacific. The potential designation could increase Medicare reimbursement rates, but it would limit the hospital to 25 beds. Olympic…

More hospitals are missing payroll in 2026 than in 2025, and more hospital leaders are warning that they may not be able to pay staff, according to Becker’s coverage over the last three years. So far in 2026, Becker’s has…

Tacoma, Wash.-based MultiCare Health System has entered the Medicare Advantage market with its new health plan, a move more than a decade in the making that runs against a tide of health system-owned plan closures across the country. MultiCare Health…

CMS finalized its 2027 outpatient and ASC payment rule Nov. 4, cutting payment for 340B-acquired drugs, expanded site-neutral payments to imaging and continuing to phase out the inpatient-only list. Hospital groups were divided on the rule, with reactions ranging from…

Portland, Ore.-based Legacy Health recorded an operating loss of $7.1 million (-0.8% operating margin) during the second quarter of fiscal 2027, which ended Sept. 30, compared to an operating loss of $28 million (-3.5% margin) during the same quarter last…