Rural Hospitals Face Renewed Financial Challenges, Especially in States That Have Not Expanded Medicaid February 23, 2023 Issue Brief This data note examines rural hospitals’ operating margins in recent years. After seeing higher margins early in the pandemic, likely due to government relief funds, rural hospitals now face renewed challenges, especially in states that have not expanded Medicaid.
Analysis: Inconsistencies Within Hospital Price Transparency Data Make Cost Comparisons Difficult February 10, 2023 News Release Since 2021, federal law has required hospitals to publicly post information about their standard prices and negotiated discount rates for common health services to encourage consumers to compare prices and to promote competition. To date, however, the transparency data currently shared by hospitals to comply with the law are messy,…
Ongoing Challenges with Hospital Price Transparency February 10, 2023 Issue Brief This analysis examines transparency data currently shared by hospitals to comply with federal law and finds that they are messy, inconsistent and confusing, making it challenging if not impossible for patients or researchers to use them to compare prices. Many of these shortcomings stem from a lack of specificity in the requirements for what hospitals must report.
How Has Health Care Utilization Changed Since the Pandemic? January 24, 2023 Issue Brief This chart collection examines the latest available data on how health services utilization has changed over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Nation’s Largest For-Profit Health Systems Have Typically Had Operating Margins That Meet or Exceed Pre-Pandemic Levels December 5, 2022 News Release Despite higher inflation and dwindling COVID-19 relief funding from the federal government, the nation’s largest for-profit health systems so far this year have operating margins that meet or exceed levels in 2019 prior to the pandemic, a new KFF analysis finds. The analysis examines the financial performance of the three…
Operating Margins Among the Largest For-Profit Health Systems Have Exceeded 2019 Levels for the Majority of the COVID-19 Pandemic December 5, 2022 Issue Brief This data note examines the financial performance of the three largest for-profit hospital systems in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic. All three health systems have had positive operating margins that have exceeded pre-pandemic levels for the majority of the pandemic, including in the third quarter of 2022.
KFF’s Kaiser Health News Investigates Private Equity’s Stealth Takeover of Health Care in the United States November 14, 2022 News Release A new investigation by KFF’s Kaiser Health News (KHN) lays bare the sizeable efforts by private equity investors to take over large and lucrative parts of the U.S health care system in recent years. KHN found that private equity firms have invested nearly $1 trillion through thousands of deals to…
Cost of COVID-19 Hospital Admissions among People with Private Health Coverage November 14, 2022 Issue Brief This analysis examines the cost of COVID-19 treatment for inpatient care among people with health coverage through large employers. It finds that in 2020, COVID-19 hospitalizations cost an average of $41,611, including an average out-of-pocket payment of $1,280 for people with large employer coverage.
Half of All Hospitals Have Charity Care Costs That Represent 1.4% or Less of Their Operating Expenses November 3, 2022 News Release Half of hospitals reported that the cost of providing charity care to patients represented 1.4% or less of their operating expenses in 2020, though the rates vary widely from hospital to hospital, a new KFF analysis finds. Based on a review of hospital cost report data, the analysis finds some…
Hospital Charity Care: How It Works and Why It Matters November 3, 2022 Issue Brief This issue brief examines the role that hospital charity care programs play in helping patients who are unable to afford their care. It describes how hospital charity care programs work, the amount of charity care that hospitals provide, relevant federal and state regulation, the role of Medicare and Medicaid in helping hospitals afford charity care expenses, and policy proposals related to charity care programs.