Accounting & Financial Management
The rate released by CMS on Monday, does not account for inflation or hospitals' labor costs, say stakeholders.
The Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System proposed rule is expected to increase hospital payments by $1.6B.
Healthcare benefits typically represent the largest expense compared to other operating expenses.
UnitedHealth Group attributed Optum's growth to the accelerating expansion of its value-based care delivery initiatives.
The trend is expected to continue this year, with drug spending poised to grow 4 to 6%, driven by increases in utilization, prices and new drugs.
The progress is slow and there are still problem areas, such as discharges, patient days and length of stay.
Healthcare's share of gross domestic product is expected to remain unchanged over the next eight years.
Payments are expected to increase by 1.5%, or $50 million next year.
The health system has also initiated an EHR-connected platform to identify patients with unmet social needs.
The impact of the Omicron variant has been palpable, as median operating margins remained in the red for a second straight month in February.