Nick Hut
About the Author
Nick Hut is a former newspaper reporter with more than a decade of experience at HFMA. His HFMA Daily reporting is considered a top benefit of membership as members have come to rely on Hut’s daily insights on policy, legal and business developments. He has been at the forefront of major industry news, garnering a following from national media. Nick has earned multiple national awards, including two first-place honors in 2024 from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for excellence in analysis and reporting.
Latest Work
Medicaid funding restrictions hit a roadblock in budget reconciliation bill
A Senate official put at least a temporary halt to one of the most contentious sources of Medicaid savings in the budget reconciliation bill. The chamber’s parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, ruled that provisions to reduce Medicaid provider taxes cannot be included in the bill in their current form. If Republicans retain the tax limits or other…
Annual Conference Day 4: Expert panel discusses Medicaid and other crucial policy developments
Hospital leaders and healthcare policy analysts are keeping a wary eye on potentially large Medicaid funding cuts that could be imminent. As Congress decides what level of spending retrenchment to include in the budget reconciliation bill, hospital executives are left to anticipate just how big the impact will be. For Gordon Edwards, CFO of Akron’s…
Annual Conference Day 3: Some positives for the healthcare industry, but challenges and concerns abound
Amid the challenges of the present moment, it may seem hard to find reason for optimism. But some metrics and trends represent a solid foundation on which not-for-profit hospitals and health systems can brace themselves against the headwinds. “Of the key tenets we look for in the sector, volumes are back to pre-pandemic levels and…
Annual Conference Day 2: Medicaid, AI take center stage in presentations
On the list of concerns for hospital and health system CFOs, looming cuts to Medicaid payments are at or near the top, according to a panel discussion Monday afternoon at HFMA’s Annual Conference in Denver. Cuts to projected Medicaid spending, as drafted in the budget reconciliation bill now being discussed among congressional Republicans, would have…
Insurers promise to make prior authorization processes easier for all parties
In potentially a rare dose of good news for providers about prior authorization, the health insurance industry has volunteered to scale back the process and introduce new accommodations, according to an announcement Monday. As described by the insurance lobby and the Trump administration, which convened a meeting Monday at which a large segment of the…
Annual Conference Day 1: HFMA’s Ann Jordan announces new tool to quantify the performance of the healthcare industry
HFMA is formally taking the lead in providing the healthcare industry with true measurements of the system’s capacity to meet present and future demand, President and CEO Ann Jordan announced Sunday. While kicking off HFMA’s 2025 Annual Conference in Denver, Jordan described the launch of the U.S. Healthcare Vitals Tracker, which “creates a common starting…
CMS finalizes the program integrity rule for the Affordable Care Act insurance marketplaces
CMS formally implemented an Affordable Care Act marketplace rule that is expected to reduce plan enrollment in the name of program integrity, but the agency took steps to try to mitigate the long-term impact. Unlike in the earlier proposed rule, the final rule allows some of the new restrictions on enrollment to sunset after 2026.…
Part A hospital spending is helping to accelerate Medicare insolvency, trustees say
The costs of hospital inpatient care are a key driver in forecasts that the Medicare Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund will run out of money within eight years. As described in the latest annual report of the Medicare trustees, the projection of a 2033 insolvency date represents a three-year acceleration from last year’s estimate. Changes…
Health systems say the budget reconciliation bill is bad news for patients and hospitals
Even before a Senate committee produced legislative text that would increase the Medicaid cuts in the budget reconciliation bill, hospitals were preparing to amplify their opposition to the bill. The changes wrought by the Senate are likely to make the matter more urgent for hospitals that could be exposed to potentially significant revenue declines. After…
Senate version of the budget reconciliation bill does not look promising for providers
Note: The lead section of this article was updated June 17 with clarifying information on state-directed payments. As released late Monday afternoon, the Senate Finance Committee’s healthcare proposals that would be part of the budget reconciliation bill go beyond the House bill in constraining Medicaid spending. Key changes from the version passed by the House…