Small businesses remain pessimistic about future business conditions

The share of small-business owners who expect economic conditions to worsen over the next six months has steadily increased in recent months.  Smalls are still struggling to find qualified workers. Nearly half of them report job openings they can’t fill, and the situation is even worse in some industries, such as construction, where 64% of smalls reported few or no qualified applicants. 

Many have scaled back hiring plans and raised compensation for current workers

Hiring challenges look set to continue for the foreseeable future.  Other inflationary pressures are also likely to persist. The share of smalls expecting to raise prices over the next three months is the highest since 1979. So far, most have been able to pass on rising material costs to their customers.  Nevertheless, there are some reasons for optimism. Sales remain strong, and many small businesses still plan to increase capital spending going forward. 

The courts will decide the fate of new surprise billing regulations from HHS... 

The Dept. of Health and Human Services…following a recent lawsuit from the American Medical Assn. and the American Hospital Assn. The recent rule prohibits surprise billing when a patient unknowingly receives emergency services or other care from a provider that is outside their health insurance network. 

At issue is the independent dispute resolution process for such cases

If a patient unknowingly receives care from an out-of-network provider, their insurer has 30 days to negotiate an acceptable out-of-network rate. Should negotiations fail, either party can opt to bring in a neutral arbiter to settle the issue. The administration says the arbiter should start with the assumption that the correct rate for a service is the median price usually paid for that service in the same geographic area. The AMA and AHA disagree, saying other factors, such as physician quality, must be considered. Surprise billing is especially common during medical emergencies, a time when patients often must use ambulance providers or receive care from providers outside of their insurance networks. But it can happen at in-network hospitals, too.