Billions of dollars of Medicaid payments for hospitals delayed, WSJ reports

Unexpected delays in billions of dollars of supplemental Medicaid payments have forced some hospitals to cut costs by laying off staff and pausing payments to medical suppliers, Dominique Mosbergen of The Wall Street Journal reports. Hospital associations in at least 10 states said the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has been unusually slow processing applications. Some of the delays date back to fall of 2024. Companies in the space include Tenet Healthcare (THC), Universal Health (UHS), Community Health (CYH), and HCA Holdings (HCA).