Articles and Blogs

On April 30, 2025, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released the FFY 2026 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (“IPPS”) Proposed Rule (“Proposed Rule”) to update IPPS payment rates, change DSH payments, increase uncompensated care payments and request input on ways to streamline Medicare regulations and reduce provider burden. Increase to Payment Rates Under…Read More

The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (“CMMI”) has announced a new strategy for establishing payment systems that incentivize healthier lives through a focus on three key pillars: (1) promoting evidence-based prevention; (2) empowering patients to achieve their health goals; and (3) driving choice and competition. This strategy includes several positives for providers participating (or…Read More

In the latest example of enforcement action against pharmacy benefit managers (“PBMs”), Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel recently filed an antitrust lawsuit in federal court against Express Scripts, Inc. and Prime Therapeutics LLC, alleging the two PBMs engaged in an unlawful agreement to suppress pharmacy reimbursement rates and harm competition (the “Complaint”). The Complaint, brought…Read More

On April 24, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (the “Seventh Circuit” or “Court”) affirmed summary judgment in Partin v. Baptist Healthcare Sys., Inc., applying the McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework to Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (“EMTALA”) retaliation claims. Case Background Plaintiff Dr. William Partin (“Partin”) was an employee…Read More

Hospitalogy recently compiled statistics tracking the top health systems along several metrics, as of January 1, 2025, including total revenue (Kaiser Permanente), patient service revenue (HCA Healthcare) and patient revenue growth (BJC Health System). Health system margins dipped below 1% for the first time in 15 months, according to a recent report. The report attributed…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 the…Read More

President Trump unveiled his 2026 budget proposal. Key health care takeaways include: 1) The Department of Health and Human Services will receive funding to promote nutrition, physical activity and healthy lifestyles; 2) VA medical centers will receive additional funding, and veterans will be able to access care from local providers; 3) funding for National Institutes…Read More