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Scott Becker - 6 Healthcare News Stories to Watch 4-2-26 · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

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  This is Scott Becker with the Beckers Health
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  Care podcast.
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  We're just gonna quickly walk through
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  six health care stories that we're watching that
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  that help to sort of define what we're
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  seeing in health care,
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  some of these good, some of these bad.
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  First,
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  a California hospital's finances improve,
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  but their cash position remains dire. And this
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  is a specific California hospital. This isn't all
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  California hospitals, but what might be true that
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  you've generalized pretty well
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  about finances challenging and cash position is challenging
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  and the regulatory environment very tough in California
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  for hospital sound systems.
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  Second,
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  MercyOne Hospital to transition labor and delivery services,
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  trying to find a different way to deliver
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  labor and delivery services and consolidate some of
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  those assigned at the times throughout the country.
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  Third, a West Virginia hospital to end ob
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  gynae delivery services. Again,
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  a sign of the times in terms of
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  the nation, in terms of what people are
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  doing at delivery services. That's another hospital ending
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  OB delivery services. Hospitals aren't doing this because
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  they want to. They're doing it because they
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  can't staff it and can't make it work,
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  and there's not enough help to do it
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  and to do it safely. And they're also
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  doing it in rural communities where there's not
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  a demand. So really challenging position
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  for rural communities and for the health systems.
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  Fourth, Trump administration targets medical admissions, and this
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  is part of their effort to derail or
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  bring
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  take out a certain amount of DEI type
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  of efforts and so forth.
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  Highly
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  combative contested issue,
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  and so it it is what it is.
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  Fifth, eight Medicare Advantage numbers to know. Again,
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  the story of the growth of Medicare Advantage
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  still growing,
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  even though some big national insurers are slowing
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  down in the growth in it. There's still
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  plenty of growth there. We're at about 54,
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  50% 55%
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  of the company country is in Medicare Advantage,
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  and OB three,
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  the one big beautiful act three,
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  is likely to continue to push people towards
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  Medicare Advantage over the long run.
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  Sixth, the Hogue system in California
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  wants a good transplant center. God bless them
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  in the work that they do. Just a
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  fantastic story.
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  A couple other stories that we're watching,
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  there's a story by Scott King on hidden
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  or capacity challenges.
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  There, he has eight period operative leaders
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  sort of speak about
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  what's draining surgical time. And then we've also
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  got a a story and a podcast from
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  Dan Collard,
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  who's a genius,
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  misalignment,
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  not malice,
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  rethinking general con generational conflict in health care.
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  Again, those are several of the stories that
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  we're that we're watching at Becker's Healthcare. We
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  we hope you enjoy this.
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  Text Scott Becker anytime,
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  (773)
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  766-5322,
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  with any of your thoughts or ideas for
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  the Becker's Healthcare podcast. Thank you for listening,
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  and and thank you very much for joining
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  us.