The beginning of 2022 was kinder to health insurers than it was to hospitals.
Many hospitals endured their most financially turbulent period of the pandemic, as the cushion of federal bailout funds faded and labor and supply costs exploded. Conversely, while health insurance companies paid out more to hospitals and doctors than they did a year ago, insurers arguably remain as rich and diversified as ever — especially as they dip even further into taxpayer-funded insurance programs.
The early wave from the highly transmissible Omicron variant, which was as brief as it was virulent, ultimately drove a lot of the choppiness. But some experts say even with as much disruption as the virus has caused, hospitals and insurers keep coming out ahead.
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