Hospitals NAICS 622110

Aug 1, 2025 - Physician Practice Acquisition By Hospitals Increases

• Hospitals are buying small physician practices and that is driving up the price of care, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBEA). About 42.2% of physicians worked in private practices (a practice that was wholly-owned by physicians) in 2024, down from 60% in 2012, according to the American Medical Association's Physician Practice Benchmark Survey. Health systems see opportunities to achieve more clinical integration and expand referral networks by acquiring independent physician practices. The acquisitions aren't limited to hospitals: Private equity, insurers, and businesses like Amazon are also acquiring medical practices from doctors facing declining reimbursement and high overhead costs.
• President Trump has signed into law the $3.4 trillion One Big Beautiful Bill that is estimated by Healio to include $930 billion in Medicaid cuts over 10 years. Nearly 12 million more people may be uninsured by 2034, with many losing coverage because of the Medicaid provisions in the bill, according to a US Congressional Budget Office analysis. For the first time in the Medicaid program’s nearly 60-year history, certain able-bodied adults aged 19 years to 64 years will be required to work, participate in job training, volunteer, or enroll in school at least 80 hours a month to maintain their Medicaid benefits. This will also be required for parents of children aged 14 years and older.

• Nearly 750 rural US hospitals are at risk of closure due to financial problems, according to Becker's Health Care. Nearly half of those hospitals are at immediate risk of closure. The count of 748 at-risk rural hospitals comes from an analysis by the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform of hospital financial information collected by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The CMS analysis lists two distinct levels of vulnerability among rural healthcare facilities: risk of closure and immediate risk of closure. Nearly every state has hospitals at risk of closure, measured by financial reserves that can cover losses on patient services for six to seven years. In over half of the states, 25% or more of rural hospitals face this risk, with 11 states having a majority of their rural hospitals in jeopardy. There are 315 rural hospitals at immediate risk of shutting down due to severe financial difficulties. Hospitals facing immediate threat of closure are those for which financial reserves could offset losses on patient services for two to three years at most.
• The Producer Price Index for general medical and surgical hospitals increased 3.12% year over year in June, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. (BLS). Hospital industry employment and average wages for nonsupervisory employees increased slightly during the first five months of 2025, according to the BLS.