Curie Brief
Turn on cookies to sign in
Signing in saves your progress to your Curie account. We can only do that with cookies on — turn them on to continue.
News
Hospitals hit a rough patch in July, with operating margins dropping 8% from June alone, dragged down by slower outpatient volumes and a growing uncompensated care burden. Kaufman Hall's latest benchmark puts the single-month operating margin index at just 1.1%—3% below the same period in 2025. Elective surgery slowdowns and rising bad debt are forcing hospitals to rethink their financial strategies.
July was a tough month for hospital finances. According to Kaufman Hall's latest benchmark report—drawing on data from more than 1,300 U.S. hospitals—the single-month operating margin index fell to 1.1%, an 8% drop from June. The calendar year-to-date index sits at just 1.4%, running 3% behind the same stretch in 2025. A seasonal dip in elective surgeries was a key culprit, with daily operating room minutes falling 3% month over month.
The uncompensated care story is getting harder to ignore. Bad debt and charity care are up 16% year-to-date compared to 2025, and while they only ticked up 1% from June to July, the cumulative pressure is mounting. Kaufman Hall warned that hospitals may need to fundamentally redesign their financial and operational strategies to stay sustainable.
By the Numbers:
Why it matters: With outpatient care becoming an ever-larger share of hospital revenue, seasonal volume swings now pack a bigger financial punch. Combined with a worsening payer mix and surging uncompensated care, the pressure on hospital margins—especially for safety-net institutions—is becoming a structural challenge, not just a seasonal blip.
