Trump Administration’s 2026 Economic Report Targets Physician Markets

On April 13, 2026, the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) transmitted the 2026 Economic Report of the President to Congress, including a 10-page chapter that recasts the long-running national conversation about physician access as a problem of competition rather than reimbursement. This Health Capital Topics article reviews the CEA’s central argument, the regulatory agenda it is designed to justify, the competing views from organized medicine and hospital stakeholders, and the political context in which the chapter was released. (Read more...)

Hospital M&A Rebounds in Q1 2026



After a slow 2025 that saw hospital and health system merger and acquisition (M&A) activity drop to multi-year lows, the first quarter of 2026 brought a marked rebound, with 22 hospital and health system transactions announced in the first quarter of 2026, representing the highest first quarter activity since 2020. The number of first quarter deals recorded by consulting firm Kaufman Hall contrasts sharply with the 46 transactions announced across all of 2025. Three of the quarter’s transactions qualified as “mega mergers,” in which the smaller party reported annual revenue over $1 billion, headlined by the proposed combination of Sacramento-based Sutter Health and Minneapolis-based Allina Health. This Health Capital Topics article reviews the first quarter data, the factors driving the rebound, and the implications of the Sutter-Allina deal for cross-market hospital combinations across the U.S. (Read more...)

CMS Releases FY 2027 IPPS Proposed Rule


On April 10, 2026, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the proposed Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System (LTCH PPS) rule for fiscal year (FY) 2027. Perhaps more important than the 2.4% proposed payment update is CMS’s announcement of the first mandatory nationwide episode-based payment model in Traditional Medicare, a revived and expanded version of the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) demonstration. This Health Capital Topics article summarizes the key payment and delivery-reform provisions of the proposed rule. (Read more...) 

Valuation of Orthopedic Services: Regulatory Environment

As discussed in the third installment of this five-part Health Capital Topics series regarding the valuation of orthopedic services, the reimbursement environment for orthopedic services is undergoing significant transformation, with substantial payment disparities emerging between facility and non-facility settings. This fourth installment examines the regulatory environment for orthopedic services, focusing on the federal fraud and abuse laws that govern financial relationships between orthopedic surgeons and healthcare organizations, and the implications of recent enforcement trends for the valuation of orthopedic services. (Read more...) 

NEW ARTICLE!

DOJ Reports Record $6.8 Billion in False Claims Act Recoveries authored by HCC's Todd A. Zigrang, MBA, MHA, FACHE, CVA, ASA, ABV, and Jessica Bailey-Wheaton, Esq., was published in the recent issue of QuckRead published by the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts (NACVA).

For more recently published material written by HCC, please visit www.healthcapital.com

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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

HCC's Jessica Bailey-Wheaton and Hannah Newman of Hancock Daniel were recently published in the American Bar Association's The Health Lawyer. Their article entitled “External Expertise in Physician Compensation: A Smart Investment” explores why partnering with independent valuation and compensation specialists is no longer optional for many organizations. From navigating FMV and commercial reasonableness standards to structuring performance-driven, value-aligned models, external advisors bring objectivity, rigor, and proven experience to an increasingly high-stakes environment.

For more recently published material written by HCC, please visit www.healthcapital.com

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