The Hertel Report

President Trump's 2027 Budget Proposal Cuts HHS Funding by 12% & Reduces Healthcare Workforce Programs by $1B

National News

National News

131 Hospitals Sue HHS Over DSH Payments

A coalition of over 130 hospitals has filed suit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services over methodology used to calculate risk payments to hospitals that treat a higher number of Medicare patients. As it stands now, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates the number of low-income patients served by...

White Papers, E books, Reports and more

AHIP Report Highlights Medigap's Role in Protecting Seniors From Rising Healthcare Costs

The report finds that more than 14 million seniors rely on Medigap to fill gaps in fee-for-service Medicare, which does not cap out-of-pocket spending and requires cost sharing for hospital and physician services. Enrollment in Medigap has grown steadily in recent years, with 43% of fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries purchasing...

Arizona Comings & Goings

HHS Secretary Kennedy Highlights Prevention, Recovery & Rural Access During Arizona Visit

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, traveled to Arizona this week as part of his national “Take Back Your Health” tour, meeting with healthcare, recovery, and community leaders to promote a prevention-focused approach to care. The visit included stops across the state, from...

Arizona News

HHS Secretary Kennedy Visits Banner Health, Spotlights Prevention & Community-based Models

Kennedy visited Banner Health on Tuesday to review the system’s prevention and early detection programs, including mobile screening initiatives aimed at expanding access to care across Arizona. During a stop at Banner’s Sports Medicine High Performance Center, Kennedy toured the system’s BIG Pink Bus mobile mammography unit and...

Arizona News

ASU's W. P. Carey School Names HonorHealth CEO Todd LaPorte as 2026 Executive of the Year

LaPorte has led HonorHealth since 2017 and oversees the health system's nine hospitals, a large outpatient network, and a range of clinical and community-based services across the greater Phoenix area. His tenure has included major strategic moves, including the acquisition of assets from Steward Health Care, the addition of Evernorth...

Arizona News

Federal and State Nursing Home Oversight Update

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published a series of revisions for survey procedures in hopes of streamlining procedure for surveys, enforcement and dispute resolution. The changes update Chapters 5 and 7 of the State Operations Manual (SOM) and consolidate oversight and investigations rules. The agency will now...

Arizona News

El Rio Health Acquires North Country Assets, Rebrands as Elk Ridge Community Health & Names New CEO

El Rio acquired most of the assets of the bankrupt North Country HealthCare, assumed operations at 12 clinic locations serving more than 50,000 patients, and appointed veteran healthcare executive David Rogers to lead the newly rebranded Elk Ridge Community Health clinics. El Rio hired approximately 99% of North Country’s remaining...

Open

Valleywise Health Board Seeks Applicants to Fill District 3 Vacancy - Applications Due April 9

The Maricopa County Special Health Care District board is seeking applicants to fill a vacancy on the governing board of Valleywise Health, following the resignation of Director Barbara Rodriguez Mundell on March 27 for personal reasons. Mundell, a former presiding judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court, was appointed to the board...

Available To All

Introduced: Bipartisan Provider Reimbursement Stability Act

A bipartisan group of lawmakers have introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would correct some of the glaring issues around Medicare physician reimbursement and the rate-setting process. Physician groups have complained for years that certain aspects of the rate-setting process have undermined physicians' Medicare...

National News

Justice Department Targets Medical Schools For DEI Admissions

The Trump administration is now targeting three major medical schools for investigation into admissions practices related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). On Wednesday, the Justice Department informed Stanford University, the Ohio State University and the University of California, San Diego of the investigations and demanded...

Arizona News

Prior Authorization Rates & Processes Go Public

Prior authorization, or the insurance practice of requiring authorization prior to the delivery of care or dispensation of drugs, has been under fire for the consequences of restricting timely access to care. Now, payers will be required to post data on how often they deny requests, how quickly they process them and how often denials are...

National News

Appointed: Healthcare Advisory Committee Members to Improve Patient Care and Modernize the U.S. Healthcare System

CMS is launching a new Healthcare Advisory Committee to provide non-binding recommendations on federal policy and program administration, with a focus on improving care delivery and system performance. As promoted by the Health & Human Services and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the committee will...

National News

ASPE Issue Brief: Workforce Shortages as Seniors' Behavioral Health Needs Increase

Rates of behavioral health conditions are on the rise among seniors, but older adults are less likely to receive treatment, due in part to restrictions against Medicare-covered patients by outpatient mental health and substance use treatment facilities. Last week, the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluations (ASPE) Office of...

Arizona News

Seeking Information: Nonprofit Sues CMS Over WISer Model Now Operating in Arizona

Nearly four months after CMS launched its Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction, or WISeR, model, the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a lawsuit March 25 seeking details on how the AI-enhanced prior authorization program works for Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries. The model is now operating in Arizona and several other...

National News

Another Resignation at ACIP Adds to Uncertainty

The future of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) remains uncertain following a judge's intervention against changes made by recent appointees to the panel. One of the panel's members took to social media to express his displeasure with the ruling and indicated that the Trump administration has plans to disband the...

White Papers, E books, Reports and more

HHS OIG Issues Briefs Finding Inappropriate Use of Antipsychotics in Nursing Homes

Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a duo of issue briefs that illustrate the use of antipsychotic drugs in nursing homes through inappropriate diagnosis practices. The first issue brief focuses on the use of the drugs as chemical restraints and the second follows up...

Available To All

Medicare Advantage Impact on Plans, Seniors and Taxpayers

The proposition of Medicare Advantage as a program relies on the assumption that private insurance companies are better situated to control costs and deliver medical coverage than a sprawling government bureaucracy. After nearly a quarter of a century, the results remain unclear, with obvious advantages and disadvantages to both forms of...

Arizona Comings & Goings

Banner Plans and Networks Has a New COO

Banner Health has named Paula Shepherd senior vice president and chief operating officer of Banner Plans and Networks, which serves 1.2 million members across six states. Shepherd, a 25-year healthcare operations veteran, assumed the role March 16 and will oversee efforts to align insurance operations with coordinated care delivery...

CMS Rules

CMS Announces ASPIRE Model for Complex Pediatric Care in Medicaid

This week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a new payment model that aims to bolster comprehensive health coverage for children with complex medical and behavioral health needs. The Accelerating State Pediatric Innovation Readiness and Effectiveness (ASPIRE) Model is a state-based model that will serve...

Arizona News

Phoenix Children’s Pediatrics Joins Phoenix Children’s Medical Group

This week Phoenix Children’s announced it's aligning its statewide primary care network, Phoenix Children’s Pediatrics, under Phoenix Children’s Medical Group, bringing primary care and specialty physicians under a single leadership structure. As part of the change, Darcey Winterland, MD was named Division Chief of Phoenix...