The proposed merger between Downers Grove, Illinois-based Advocate Health Care and Milwaukee’s Aurora Health Care now has the blessing of the Federal Trade Commission and regulators in Illinois, leaving regulatory approval in Wisconsin as the final hurdle for creating the 10th largest nonprofit health system in the U.S.

Providers have until March 12 to apply for CMS’s new Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI) Advanced model, though the program was only unveiled on Jan. 9. Considering the details CMS has given about the model, that’s not enough time for hospitals to decide whether to participate, according to the American Hospital Association (AHA).

The growth in health expenditures nationwide is expected to average 5.5 percent annually through 2026, with the aging population driving more rapid annual growth in Medicare.

In his first congressional testimony since being confirmed as HHS Secretary, Alex Azar argued the department’s proposed budget would extend the life of Medicare while making HHS more efficient by cutting nearly $18 billion in funding.

Between 1996 and 2015, the number of emergency department (ED) visits per individual paid for by Medicare increased at a greater rate than those paid for by private insurance or Medicaid. The annual increases in per-visit expenditures, however, were greater for private insurance than either of the federal programs.

The budget proposed by President Donald Trump involves several major cuts to Medicare payments for hospitals, reductions that are “unsustainable” and “staggering,” according to the Federation of American Hospitals (FAH) and the American Hospital Association (AHA).

An era of low inflation in healthcare prices may be winding down, judging by the results of Altarum’s latest health sector economic indicator reports, which said hospital prices grew by 2.2 percent in December 2017, the fastest growth rate in four years.

The fiscal year 2019 budget proposal from President Donald Trump’s administration would cut nearly $18 billion in funding to HHS, while relying on repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and turning Medicaid into a state-administered block grant program to reduce healthcare spending by the federal government by $675 billion by 2028.