- U.S. Senators Markey, Sanders and Blumenthal introduced the Stop Medical Profiteering and Theft (MPT) Act, which aims to ban sale-leasebacks between health systems and REITs if such a deal would “weaken the financial status” of the provider, as determined by HHS. The bill would also make certain changes to REIT income tax laws.
- The future of many providers’ hospital-at-home programs remains uncertain due to the current government shutdown. The COVID-era Acute Hospital Care at Home Medicare waivers expired at the end of September, but due to the shutdown, it is unclear whether Congress will ultimately act to reinstate the waivers.
- VMG published its 2026 ASC Leader Expectations Report. Among the study’s results: (1) 31% of respondents expect to invest in significant capital procurement in 2026; (2) 10% of independent ASC operators expect to sell in 2026, with 71% of those considering a health system partner; and (3) top challenges for the year ahead include adding new surgeons, maintaining anesthesia coverage and physician recruitment and retention.
- Indiana Governor Mike Braun has asked CMS for approval to tie Medicaid reimbursement to a hospital’s average commercial rate charged to patients covered by employer-sponsored health insurance. If approved, the changes would result in an approximately $1.1B reduction in Medicaid reimbursement for the state’s five largest health systems: Indiana University Health, Ascension St. Vincent, Community Health Network, Franciscan Health and Parkview Health.
- WakeMed will soon break ground on a $125M “whole health” hospital campus in Garner, NC, that will feature an integrated 45-bed acute-care hospital and a 150-bed behavioral health hospital under one roof. The facility aims to integrate physical and mental health services in a seamless way.
- As part of the shift from inpatient to outpatient care settings closer to patients’ homes, Orlando is experiencing a surge in “medtail” (medical office retail) leasing as the area’s population continues to grow, particularly in the Winter Garden, Windermere and Waterford Lakes areas of the city.
- OhioHealth’s investment pool recently grew to $8.6B, allowing the health system to pay for current and future construction projects without the need for debt financing. Construction is underway on $1B in inpatient expansions at Riverside Methodist Hospital and Grant Medical Center, with another $255M expansion at Dublin Methodist and a $228M cancer center planned in Clintonville.
- Novant Health purchased 18.4 acres of undeveloped land near its Kernersville (NC) Medical Campus for $5M. This comes on the heels of a $55M expansion of the same facility in 2024.
- The New Balance Foundation will donate $100M to Mass General Hospital for the west tower of its new heart and vascular complex. The building will span more than 1.5M sf and is part of a larger expansion that will include 482 single-bed inpatient rooms.
- A developer has secured $12M in state tax credits to transform a vacant historic hospital in Newark, NJ, into 42 affordable workforce housing units for health care workers, students and mobile professionals. The original facility was built in 1869 and has sat vacant for more than 20 years.
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Hall Render blog posts and articles are intended for informational purposes only. For ethical reasons, Hall Render attorneys cannot give legal advice outside of an attorney-client relationship.
