Large institutions like hospitals seem to have it all together. They have the physicians to do the care, the administrators to organize, and the executive leaders to run the entity. Much more, they’ve become critical backbones to thousands of communities across the country, providing high-quality care for those in medical need.
Yet, while hospitals are the true prestige, government leaders tend to get involved when there’s a need to shift the system. And most recently, new laws around Medicaid have only added to this governmental pressure.
The Medicaid Debate
Earlier in July, sweeping reforms reshaped how Medicaid operates. The legislation, ordered by President Trump under the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” essentially stripped costs away from the federal government and forced costly fees onto individual patients. For millions of Americans, that meant suddenly having to pay higher out-of-pocket expenses, and for some, it even resulted in the complete loss of coverage.
With this Medicaid crisis, hospitals will face the damages the hardest. Rising levels of uncompensated care, organizational layoffs, and a struggle to stay afloat are the prime implications in this case. As well, with patients’ unpaid bills, hospitals will have to pay off piles of debt, leaving less room for the money to be allocated for equipment and other healthcare costs.
Even the numbers speak for themselves. According to Healthcare Brew, about 750 hospitals in the U.S. are at risk of going bankrupt, with nearly 315 of those on the verge of closing within the next three years. As the report suggests, this data is due to ongoing financial challenges like reimbursement rates.
The Medicaid challenge poses a threat in rural areas especially. Per the same source, with 65% of rural areas lacking access to healthcare, if one hospital closes, uninsured patients will be left to travel elsewhere to receive medical care.
How AI Can Help
Against the insurance buzz, this is why artificial intelligence is emerging as a key component in the healthcare space. Known as technology that automates tasks and streamlines processes, many hospitals today are turning toward these robots to combat the financial complexities.
Unlike human staff, who are constrained by time and workload, AI systems in hospitals work by diving deep into data to uncover payment histories, insurance contracts, and denied claims where the money might be slipping away.
For example, AI can flag errors in billing codes and recommend how to resubmit appeals faster. It can also track where hospitals are underpaid and suggest strategies to negotiate money. Instead of taking months to piece this all together, AI can now do this in seconds, allowing for hospitals to recover revenue much quicker.
Some AI innovators, such as Iterate.ai, led by co-founders Jon Nordmark and Brian Sathianathan, are designing platforms to deliver this kind of insight in real time. With AI technologies like this, it is giving healthcare administrators a fighting chance to rework finances before it is too late.
The Future at Stake
The stakes in the healthcare industry have never been higher. Experts have warned this is only the beginning, and the saga of financial insecurity will only continue in the coming years. And while there’s no guarantee of a complete comeback, hospitals are at least doing the due diligence to pick up what they’ve lost.
As it seems, government laws have changed the traditional hospital landscape tremendously. It is no longer a simple one-stop solution, and instead, hospital staff and patients must work together to determine what financial solution might work best.
At the very least, AI is not going to save healthcare entirely, but it could stabilize the financial system until a better regulation comes to fruition. Surely, it won’t rewrite the rules either, but it is the only immediate answer that will help institutions stay solvent at this time.
Today, hospitals must seize the opportunity. If they don’t, the nation might face an even greater catastrophe than it is already in. By giving AI a chance, hospitals can dodge what the very government has ruined.
