FastFinance with Rich Daly

HFMA's FastFinance newsletter is now a podcast. Host Rich Daly discusses the most current and relevant healthcare news, delivered in an easily digestible format.

A proposed rule to implement provider tax provisions of the

Also, this week’s Weird Number: $1 billion. That was how much Medicare WOULD save on 2027 payment rates under the Clinical

One More Thing: CMS has canceled roughly 315,000 enrollments encompassing 760,000 people in Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace plans, citing suspected fraud and the numbers soon could grow.

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HFMA's FastFinance newsletter is now a podcast. Host Rich Daly discusses the most current and relevant healthcare news, delivered in an easily digestible format.

Physician union activity is picking up this year, including at an unexpected health system. What's driving it?

Also, this week’s Weird Number: $2.5 million. That’s the average annual cost per hospital of denied claims stemming from inaccurate patient identification or information, according to a Black Book survey.

One More Thing: Rural hospitals have struggled in some instances to meet the paperwork requirements of the new federal rural health transformation program.

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HFMA's FastFinance newsletter is now a podcast. Host Rich Daly discusses the most current and relevant healthcare news, delivered in an easily digestible format.

A seven-state health system has garnered federal rural funding under the 2025 federal healthcare overhaul, even as it prepares for adverse impacts next year.

Also, this week’s Weird Number: $1.8 trillion. That’s the amount that Medicare and Medicaid cost the federal government in FY24, and was more than 26% of total federal spending that year, according to CMS actuaries.  

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HFMA's FastFinance newsletter is now a podcast. Host Rich Daly discusses the most current and relevant healthcare news, delivered in an easily digestible format.

Hospital and health system capital expenditures in fiscal

Also, this week’s Weird Number: $137 billion. That’s the estimated annual spending on state-directed payments, of which 84% goes to hospitals

One More Thing: Learn details of a new bipartisan bill that would overhaul the 340B program.

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HFMA's FastFinance newsletter is now a podcast. Host Rich Daly discusses the most current and relevant healthcare news, delivered in an easily digestible format.

A recent legal ruling underscored that federal officials have the right to approve 340B rebates, which could increase the likelihood of a federal pilot.

Also, this week’s Weird Number: $10 million. That’s the maximum annual penalty for health plans that fail to meet pricing disclosure rules in the advancing Patients Deserve Price Tags Act. Other advancing legislation also would increase fines for hospitals that fail to meet pricing disclosure requirements.

One More Thing: Learn details of a new rule implementing reductions in allowed Medicaid provider taxes.

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HFMA's FastFinance newsletter is now a podcast. Host Rich Daly discusses the most current and relevant healthcare news, delivered in an easily digestible format.

AI resistance by nurses is spreading nationwide but there are ways hospitals can use it to boost their productivity while minimizing opposition.

Also, this week’s Weird Number: 66%. That’s the share of respondents to HFMA’s “Hospital of the Future” survey who said healthcare’s affordability challenge is a driving force for transformation.

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HFMA's FastFinance newsletter is now a podcast. Host Rich Daly discusses the most current and relevant healthcare news, delivered in an easily digestible format.

An AI tool helped cut emergency department lengths of stay,

Also, this week’s Weird Number: 11%. That’s the amount of decrease in Medicare Part A payments to providers in 2033 when the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund is depleted, according to the latest projections by the Medicare trustees.

One More Thing: Increasing financial vulnerability for ACA marketplace plans could hit providers through greater administrative restrictions.

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HFMA's FastFinance newsletter is now a podcast. Host Rich Daly discusses the most current and relevant healthcare news, delivered in an easily digestible format.

Hospitals and health systems have launched an increasing number of health plans in recent years and now they need major re-assessments amid pressure facing all payers.

Also, this week’s Weird Number: 2.3 million. That’s the number of Medicaid enrollees CMS projected will leave the program in FY27 due to requirements that able-bodied adult beneficiaries ages complete at least 80 hours per month of work, volunteering, job training, or education.

One More Thing: One health system is pioneering digital triage to reduce unnecessary visits of low-acuity patients to the over-crowded emergency departments.

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HFMA's FastFinance newsletter is now a podcast. Host Rich Daly discusses the most current and relevant healthcare news, delivered in an easily digestible format.

Hospitals and health systems have improved their front-end patient collections over the last year. But back-end collections are faltering.

Also, this week’s Weird Number: $1.3 billion. That’s the amount of Medicaid funding CMS announced it was withholding from California as part of the Trump administration’s ongoing healthcare fraud crackdown.

One More Thing: A new rule implementing cuts to Medicaid state-directed payments will cut much more than previously projected under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

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HFMA's FastFinance newsletter is now a podcast. Host Rich Daly discusses the most current and relevant healthcare news, delivered in an easily digestible format.

Hospitals and health systems may have some opportunities ahead to improve their results in Medicare Advantage.

Also, this week’s Weird Number: $3.8 billion. That's the total drop in Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule Medicare payments from 2018 to 2020, according to estimates from the American Clinical Lab Association.

One More Thing: One driver of the proliferation of hospital price cap laws in states is research on existing laws.

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