For decades, we’ve known Medicare’s financial challenges were coming. The math hasn’t changed. The program continues to spend more than it brings in, and the demographic reality is unavoidable: more retirees, fewer workers, and escalating healthcare costs.

When most people think about the cost of healthcare, they look at billing, drug prices, or insurance premiums. What they don’t see is the hidden cost that providers shoulder to comply with the rules. Every regulation comes with a price, not just in dollars, but also in terms of time, infrastructure, staffing, and attention. And when policymakers underestimate that cost, it distorts everything from reimbursement to patient access...

There’s a habit in healthcare policy circles to treat hospitals as if they’re just another line item in the system. A vendor. A cost center. Something to cut, cap, or streamline. But hospitals are a lot more than that. They’re not just healthcare providers. They’re employers. Infrastructure anchors. Economic drivers. And in many communities, they’re the largest single source of jobs, stability, and social services. That’s not an argument for protecting the status quo. It’s a

Across the country, the cost of living looks very different. What it takes to live in New York City isn’t the same as what it takes to live in Charlotte. But when it comes to federal tax deductions, Medicare policy, and national funding structures, we often treat every place and every taxpayer as if they’re operating in the same economy...