Economics

This channel highlights factors that impact hospital and healthcare economics and revenue. This includes news on healthcare policies, reimbursement, marketing, business plans, mergers and acquisitions, supply chain, salaries, staffing, and the implementation of a cost-effective environment for patients and providers.

Former ACA Marketplace enrollee: ‘This is ridiculous—$1,200 and an $8,000 deductible for a healthy person. Really?’
A new KFF survey shows almost 10% of people who had an Obamacare Marketplace plan in 2025 decided to head into 2026 with no coverage at all. Another 28% re-enrolled but with a different—presumably lesser—plan.
Healthcare price transparency startup earns $40M in seed funding, bringing the total to $95M
San Diego-based Turquoise Health was founded in 2020 and has evolved to be a healthcare pricing engine used to develop health plan networks and contract rates. The company said its end goal is complete price transparency to make it easier for all organizations and patients to navigate the U.S. healthcare system.
EP advocacy group details 6 key policy issues
The Heart Rhythm Society's advocacy arm is monitoring such issues as prior authorization, outpatient payment policies and cancelled research funding.
Consolidation, competition, consumer costs: Healthcare econ experts break it all down, make it make sense
Market forces like competition cannot stem the urge to merge among and between payers and providers, so neither will they staunch the price hikes in premiums.
MGMA outlines path and pitfalls in CMS 2030 value-based care push
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) has tested nearly 40 APMs, of which only two turned out to be successful, which does not bode well for meeting a 2030 deadline to transition to value-based payments.

Video of American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) leadership explaining how the society recognized early the need for standardization and training for on and stepped forward to offer training for various point of care ultrasound (POCUS) users and to bring them into its membership. Image shows a critical care COVID patient being scanned with a Philips Lumify point-of-care ultrasound system with doctors on screen helping guide the user. #POCUS #ASE #ASE2023

ASE training clinicians as point-of-care ultrasound grows

The American Society of Echocardiography recognized the lack of training and standardization for point-of-care ultrasound users and decided to do something about it.

radiology reporting EHR health record CDS AUC

Physician assistants order imaging at rates higher than primary care doctors

Measures to optimize the value of radiology services will be necessary as the strained PCP workforce is increasingly augmented by other providers, experts wrote in JACR.

Radiology societies express ‘significant concern’ around proposed BlueCross BlueShield policy

BCBS last month suggested curtailing coverage for peripheral nerve stimulation devices, used to relieve pain, which drew ire from thousands of physicians.

Private equity’s ‘voracious’ acquisition of radiology practices is increasing imaging prices, study asserts

Such ownership changes were associated with an 8.2% price increase in radiology and statistically significant upticks across 8 of the 10 specialties examined.

Big Pharma’s industry payments to diagnostic radiologists have risen sharply since 2019

Merk & Co. paid the largest amount to the specialty between 2017-2021, followed by Hologic and Pfizer, researchers wrote recently.

Radiologists capture growing market share for key interventional procedure while cardiologists lose ground

Among Medicare beneficiaries, there was a marked drop in the delivery of percutaneous renal artery angioplasty, used to treat a narrowed artery, between 2010 and 2018.

Imaging advocates urge feds to fix PET coverage gap following approval of new Alzheimer’s drug

CMS intends to soon propose a new national coverage determination that would loosen restrictions around PET payment, according to a report published Monday.

Members of Congress introduce bill requiring all Medicaid programs to cover lung cancer screening

H.R. 4286 also would expand coverage for tobacco cessation in the federal payment program, including counseling and medication-assisted treatment.

Economics

Former ACA Marketplace enrollee: ‘This is ridiculous—$1,200 and an $8,000 deductible for a healthy person. Really?’

Healthcare price transparency startup earns $40M in seed funding, bringing the total to $95M

EP advocacy group details 6 key policy issues

Consolidation, competition, consumer costs: Healthcare econ experts break it all down, make it make sense

MGMA outlines path and pitfalls in CMS 2030 value-based care push