AHLA 2026 Recap

Highlights of this episode include:

• How attendance was this year
• Reimbursement-related content
• Medicare Advantage changes

Kelly Wisness: Hi, this is Kelly Wisness. Welcome back to the award-winning Hospital Finance Podcast.  We’re pleased to welcome back Kristin DeGroat, Besler Holding’s Chief Legal Officer. In this episode, Kristin will provide us with a recap from the recent AHLA event in Baltimore. Welcome back, and thank you for joining us, Kristin.

Kristin DeGroat: Well, thank you for having me.

Kelly: Well, let’s go ahead and jump in. So how was attendance this year at the recent AHLA Institute on Medicare and Medicaid payment issues event in Baltimore?

Kristin: I think it was well attended. Last year, we weren’t able to hear from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services or the Department of Health and Human Services, as they were unable to attend. However, this year they attended. I thought the attendance in terms of providers as well as government, and of course, the lawyers, but the consulting firms as well, I thought the attendance was great.

Kelly: That’s always a good thing to have everybody there. So, I know you’ve attended this event for more than 20 years now. How does this year’s AHLA event stack up to previous years’ events, you know, especially in regards to content?

Kristin: The content they provided was very helpful, especially in terms of reimbursement-related issues. And the speakers were amazing. We had the Office of General Counsel, the Office of the Inspector General, and, CMS all speak. And in fact, they were all female leaders. Beth Kelly, in particular, who’s the Deputy General Counsel in the Office of OGC, who also serves as the Chief Legal Officer, she said that the U.S. spends $4 trillion. That’s T, trillion, a year on healthcare.

Kelly: Wow.

Kristin: Yes, that’s the entire GDP of some countries. And by far, the U.S., the government spends more money on healthcare than it does in anything else. But I think we’ve seen that too. What we spend as individuals and for our family on healthcare is by far the largest spend as well. So, there is so much money flowing through this and so much going on with it because you need healthcare. And it’s just amazing. I didn’t realize that it was that much of an impact. So, I think that really set the tone and put things in perspective, because a lot of what was talked about was dealing with deciphering dollars and how the payment system works and the decrease in payments. Even though there’s a lot of spend, there’s a lot of issues for providers in the provider community that really impacts how they deliver that healthcare. And I think that focus kind of set the tone for how the content impacted me. As I attended the sessions, I really kept kind of that focus about this is a lot. And how we as consultants and even me as a lawyer in the industry can shape and mold the future of how that healthcare is delivered is what this conference brings to fruition every year.

Kelly: Wow. I mean, it does sound like it was pretty impressive, and I love that there were so many female speakers there. This conference, like you said, it offers a lot of sessions and content impacting both reimbursement and revenue cycle. So, what sessions did you attend?

Kristin: So, I focused on the reimbursement sessions, but being a lawyer, I also focused on the legal side of it. So, there’s some topics in fraud and abuse. There’s legal ethics and the use of AI. Of course, this conference wasn’t solely focused on the use of AI, but there was a lot of discussion about AI and how it can shape the future of healthcare, and maybe next year at this conference, there will be more on AI. But overall, the topics really were, I think, geared, again, as I mentioned, more towards the payment side of healthcare and the cost of that delivery.

Kelly: Right. And I think it’s a guarantee there’ll be more on AI next year, right?

Kristin: I would think so.

Kelly: Yeah. AI sessions and all the marketing sessions I attend are lately too. So yeah, I think it’s here to stay for a while.

Kristin: It is. It is. And from my perspective, and this wasn’t really talked about there, because it’s not really a conference on cybersecurity and data-driven. But my thought, and I mentioned this while I was there, to the AHLA members or the leadership. I mentioned that really, the focus, I think– I understand with AI and molding it to deliver healthcare, but my thought is, especially again, being a lawyer, is that the AI and the data, the PHI that is required to deliver the healthcare, you have to have– again, it’s all about your insurance, right, and purchasing your healthcare. So, your date of birth, your healthcare ID, all of that. And I said, really, what we should also be looking at is AI and its uses in cybersecurity and protecting the data and reducing those costs to the hospitals for, again, delivering that care. So, I do think we’ll see a lot of that, or maybe that should be a topic for next year.

Kelly: Right, yeah. Sounds like it. So, I know we’ve talked a lot about content already here, Kristen, but can you tell us about some of the things you heard at the conference from speakers and/or your peers?

Kristin: So, a lot of what we heard about were the changes coming for Medicare Advantage. So, I would say the biggest topic was around Medicare Advantage providers and, of course, the beneficiaries. Because it is a Medicare and Medicaid conference, the focus is more on Medicare, but those supplemental payments that do flow in as well from Medicaid for helping with the delivery of healthcare. But again, I do think it’s the Medicare advantage and how that is shaping the future of, especially, Medicare enrollees.

Kelly: Yeah, definitely. So, Kristin, what makes this one of the few conferences that you attend every year? What keeps you coming back?

Kristin: Partially, it’s the amount of continuing education I get for it, but it’s good content. Something I look forward to and want to listen to. The topics are very relevant to what I do, as well as what Besler Holdings does and what our clients– the topics that they need to know about.

Kelly: Right. Makes total sense. Well, thank you so much for joining us, Kristen, and for giving us this recap of the recent AHLA event. We really appreciate it.

Kristin: Well, I appreciate you as well. Looking forward to next year already.

Kelly: Awesome. And thank you all for joining us for this episode of The Hospital Finance Podcast. Until next time…

[music] This concludes today’s episode of The Hospital Finance Podcast. For show notes and additional resources to help you protect and enhance revenue at your hospital, visit besler.holdings/podcasts. The Hospital Finance Podcast is a production of Besler Holdings.

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