Hospitals Barely Weather Covid-19 With Federal Grants, Cost Cuts

The U.S. hospital industry may not have fared as poorly as feared during the early months of the Covid-10 pandemic, according to new data from an influential Medicare advisory panel.

The hospital industry counters that its members are still operating at thin margins and anticipate further losses without more federal help.

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission estimates that federal CARES Act grants and facility cost reductions limited hospital industry profit losses to between $20 billion and $30 billion in April. That’s lower than the estimated $50.7 billion monthly loss figure from March through June that the American Hospital Association touted. ...