5 Things to Know about the Hospital Landscape Heading into 2025

December 10, 2024

Hospitals throughout Pennsylvania and nationally will start 2025 with evolving challenges and a new political landscape to navigate.

Nicole Stallings, HAP president and CEO, joined Cathy Bennett, president and CEO for the New Jersey Hospital Association, for a keynote presentation during HAPevolve partner Withum’s virtual Healthcare Symposium today. The session focused on key challenges facing hospitals and challenges and opportunities to address them in today’s political climate.

Here are five key takeaways from today’s discussion:

• Hospital priorities in focus:  Congress faces a looming deadline to address key hospital issues, including averting cuts to Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital payments and extending important flexibilities for telehealth and hospital-at-home programs­. Stallings noted that the Republican and Democratic proposals aren’t far off, a positive signal that hospital priorities could be taken up during the lame-duck session.
• Post-election politics:  A second Trump administration and GOP control of Congress bring a different set of challenges and opportunities for hospitals. There is likely to be a focus on removing regulatory barriers that can inhibit operations and innovation; however, hospitals will also need to guard against potential policies targeting Medicaid payments, subsidies to expand health coverage, and 340B.
• Financial strain drives consolidation:  Pennsylvania is the hottest market for hospital mergers and acquisitions nationally, Stallings noted, due in no small part to the challenging environment for hospitals’ financial sustainability. “I think it's important to remember these are more than transactions,” Stallings said. “These are about access to care. These are about jobs. They're about economic development.”
• Caring for an aging population:  As hospitals care for an increasingly aging population, they will need to focus even more on addressing social barriers to health, such as transportation challenges in rural communities. There is also a growing need to expand services and strategies to address the unique behavioral health needs of older adults.
• Quotable:  “It's never been more challenging to operate a hospital than it is right now,” Stallings said. “We're in a rapidly changing environment and with that speed comes vulnerabilities and also opportunities.”

HAP is prioritizing advocacy to help hospitals navigate today’s challenges to sustain their ability to care for Pennsylvania communities. Learn more about the priorities identified in HAP’s 2025–2027 Strategic Plan online.