Articles and Blogs

NATIONAL 24 large health systems growing bigger 340B Health pushes back on CMS plan for steeper hospital cuts 21 states sue CMS over new ACA restrictions 3 states regulating AI and mental health 5 concerning trends ASC leaders are flagging 8 systems net big results moving from ‘healthcare to health’ AHA Board names Bill... READ MORE

With the passage of Senate Enrolled Act 409 (“SEA 409”), as of July 1, 2025, employers in Indiana must grant employees leave to attend certain school meetings related to their children, such as conferences to discuss the child’s Individualized Education Program (“IEP”). Prior to this, no requirement existed for Indiana employers; however, certain federal... READ MORE

A recent article highlighted the resilience of health care mergers and acquisitions in 2025. While volumes are lower than in 2024, transaction volume is nearly double pre-pandemic levels. Behavioral health and home health/hospice remain the top targets for deals. UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital and the CU Anschutz Medical Campus have developed a prototype... READ MORE

On July 4, 2025, President Trump signed into law a major budget reconciliation measure known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (“OBBBA”). Enactment of OBBBA answers several months of speculation regarding how Congress would implement key elements of the Administration’s legislative agenda. OBBBA will have broad implications for the nation as a whole.... READ MORE

Health care continues to drive private equity (“PE”) activity, creating opportunities for investors and traditional health care providers. Transactions in the health care space are especially complicated, layering health care regulatory and reimbursement considerations on top of a complex securities, antitrust, privacy and security framework. Hall Render’s PE team of attorneys and advisors leverage... READ MORE

Effective July 1, 2025, Indiana Medicaid is no longer required to reimburse for services rendered during an Application for Emergency Detention (“AED”) without regard to medical necessity.   Background In 2023, Indiana overhauled its emergency detention framework through HEA 1006, which extended emergency detention to 14 business days, restructured procedures for initiating detentions and formally... READ MORE

On July 15, 2025, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued the CY 2026 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (“OPPS”) and Ambulatory Surgical Center (“ASC”) Payment System proposed rule. The rule, as drafted, proposes updating the payment rates of both OPPS hospital rates and ASC rates by 2.4%, calculated via the respective... READ MORE

NATIONAL Biden-era medical debt rule scrapped Changes are needed to stem primary care physician shortages CMS proposes 2026 Medicare rule: 6 notes CMS’ $7.8B hospital clawback plan ‘illegal and unwise’: AHA CMS proposes rule aligning Medicare physician payment with ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ MACRA Hawley introduces bill to wipe hospitals’ Medicaid funding cuts, boost rural... READ MORE

New inflation data shows that the consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.3% in June, bringing the annual inflation rate to 2.7%. Inflation has been slowly rising due to tariff concerns. Apparel and home furnishing prices have increased, while vehicle prices are down. Florida passed legislation phasing out the state’s sales tax on commercial... READ MORE

On July 17, 2025, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) extended the due date to complete and submit the new Form CMS-855A SNF Disclosures Attachment for every Skilled Nursing Facility (“SNF”).  In its Medicare Learning Network, 2025-07-17-MLNC, CMS formally announced that enrolled SNFs should collect data on ownership, managerial and related party information and... READ MORE