Coverage note
Industry Voices—Why health system CFOs can't budget their way out of coverage disruption
Read the original at Fierce Healthcare
Read “Industry Voices—Why health system CFOs can't budget their way out of coverage disruption” at Fierce Healthcare →Machine-written summary. The paragraph and the list below were written by a language model reading Fierce Healthcare's article, not by The 5:45's editors, and they describe that article rather than add to it. (model: @cf/ibm-granite/granite-4.0-h-micro) The original, linked above, is the actual reporting.
The article examines how health system CFOs are grappling with the challenge of budgeting for coverage disruptions caused by semi-annual Medicaid redeterminations and new work requirements, which could lead to revenue losses before budgeting cycles close.
What Fierce Healthcare reported
- Semi-annual Medicaid redeterminations and new work requirements starting in January create a coverage disruption that may outpace annual budgeting cycles
- Medicaid and CHIP enrollment fell 6% nationally between June 2025 and June 2026, with the new six-month redetermination requirement potentially cutting Medicaid expansion enrollment by 2 to 3.1 million people by 2028
- When patients lose coverage and become self-pay, hospitals often collect only 5% to 20% of the full amount owed, leading to significant potential lost revenue per encounter