WSJ What’s News - The Growing Number of Patients Without Health Insurance Is Costing Hospitals

Episode Date: August 4, 2026

P.M. Edition for Aug. 4. Millions of Americans are going without health insurance after the end of federal subsidies that kept their Affordable Care Act premiums down. WSJ reporter Anna Wilde Mathews discusses how that’s weighing on hospital profits. Plus, strong earnings and hopes for an Iran deal send markets soaring. McDonald’s aims to shake up its U.S. operations with a new boss after the U.S. division fell short in its most recent quarter. And SpaceX’s revenue rose 92% in the first quarter since its IPO, while it reported a net loss of $541 million. Alex Ossola hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free What's News newsletter. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The growing number of uninsured patients is hurting hospital profits. Hospitals are legally required to treat and stabilize people when they show up in the emergency room, whether or not they can pay, whether or not they have insurance. Plus, SpaceX's revenue rose 92% in its first quarter as a public company. And McDonald's shakes up its U.S. business after the latest quarter fell short of expectations. It's Tuesday, August 4th. I'm Alex O'Soulaf for the Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today.

We begin tonight's show with the latest developments on the Iran War. Negotiations over reopening the Strait of Hormuz have run into issues over fees. Iran has demanded the right to charge ships for passage, while the U.S. and regional governments have rejected that demand. The Trump administration maintains that a deal is close, as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessoneman, said on CNBC this morning. We are in talks with the Iranians, and I think there is a chance we may have a deal today or tomorrow to open the strait and move towards a more normalized position in this conflict.

Later, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that talks to reopen the strait have made progress but hadn't reached a final agreement. Voters are going to the polls today for primary elections in Michigan, Missouri, and three other states, as you heard, morning. In Missouri, they're also voting on what could be a big change to the state's tax laws. The ballot measure would phase out the state's income tax, which tops out at 4.7%. To make up the lost revenue, the state could jack up its sales taxes and also expand the sales tax so that it covers things like streaming and auto repairs. Those are services that Missouri doesn't tax right now.

Journal Economics reporter Gene Wayland says Missouri is one of a number of Republican-led states looking to get rid of income taxes. Mississippi and Oklahoma have put themselves on paths to eliminate personal income taxes over time. South Carolina is setting a course this year to drop its top income tax rate to 1.99%. Republican states argue that this makes their states a more attractive place to live and work, particularly at a time when housing is becoming so much more expensive. They also argue that it could spark more economic growth by leaving more money in the pockets of residents and businesses. Democrats would argue that it won't leave more money in people's pockets because sales tax will increase.

Critics of the Missouri measure argued that it would mean a shift in who's paying most taxes. Economists say that an increase in sales tax tends to hit lower and middle income people harder than it does wealthier people. so such a shift could potentially increase the tax burden on people making less money and ease it on wealthier people. In Washington, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to advance Todd Blanche's nomination to be Attorney General. It's not clear whether Blanche has enough support in the full Senate for confirmation or when a final vote might happen. And in Washington state, authorities have charged a 37-year-old man with arson for starting one. one of the wildfires burning in the eastern part of the state. Authorities said he used matches or a lighter to start the fire.

The fires have burned more than 10,000 acres, and tens of thousands of people have had to evacuate their homes. The latest earnings report for several hospital companies show how the growing number of people without insurance is hitting hospital profits, sometimes by hundreds of millions of dollars. What's News producer Danny Lewis has the story. Millions of Americans are now going without health insurance after the enhanced federal subsidies for plans purchased through the Affordable Care Act

ended at the start of this year. Now, hospitals are beginning to get stuck with the bill. WSJ Health Insurance reporter Anna Wildy Matthews joins us now to explain how the loss of insurance subsidies is trickling out into the wider health care economy. Anna, why is the loss of the federal insurance subsidies hitting hospitals so hard? Hospitals are the place that people go, whether they have insurance or not, when they really must have care. And hospitals are legally required to try.

treat and stabilize people when they show up in the emergency room whether or not they can pay, whether or not they have insurance. So the hospital companies feel that because people are doing that. They're showing up. They're needing care and they're getting care, but hospitals are not necessarily getting paid for that. So it's been eight months since the subsidies ended. Why is this happening now? One reason that it really started hitting much harder in the second quarter is that, first of all, not everyone dropped the coverage right away. Some people maybe took a little while into the year before they figured out how much they were going to have to pay. Another thing is that the Affordable Care Act has a grace period built in, so it wasn't clear to hospitals necessarily who had coverage

and who didn't really until the second quarter. So looking ahead a little bit, Medicaid is also adding federal work requirements next year. How might that affect hospitals? It's hard to tell exactly, but definitely there's a prediction that more people will lose insurance. The Congressional Budget Office projects another 4.1 million people will be. become uninsured in 2027. And the fact is that some people who have Medicaid now may not be able to meet the requirements. Some may just fail to do so even if they could have, and they will likely lose insurance. That's WSJ's Anna Wilde Matthews. Thanks for joining us. Thank you. Coming up, a slew of earnings, including SpaceX's first as a public company, and what's so great

about owning part of a private jet? Those stories and more after the break. Stocks jumped today while oil fell more than 5%. And that's because of those hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough in the Iran war, and a lot of strong earnings like Caterpillar and Software Company Palantir. Palantir had a huge gain today, closing up almost 30%. The NASDAQ led the gains soaring 2.6%. The Dow jumped more than 900 points and closed above 54,000 for the first time. The S&P rose 1.8% and also closed at a record high.

An outlier was Chipotle, whose shares lost almost 10%. Minnesota health authorities are investigating salmonella cases tied to jalapenos served at Chipotle and other Mexican chain restaurants. Chipotle removed the jalapenos in question, and Minnesota said it has no ongoing concern with Chipotle. A flurry of companies posted earnings today. SpaceX brought in $7.8 billion in revenue in the second quarter. That's up 92% from a year ago. The company reported a loss of $541 million. The SpaceX mega IPO priced at $135 a share.

And while at first it zoomed higher, in recent weeks it's traded below the IPO price. Its stock fell about 6.5% in after hours trading today. For more on their earnings, go to WSJ.com. McDonald's said that its U.S. business didn't meet the mark for its most recent quarter, with same store sales rising less than 1%. So the chain is shaking things up. It appointed Sky Anderson to lead its operations in the U.S. She'll focus on resetting the company's value offers and marketing,

as well as improving service and quality. McDonald's shares rose just over 1%. Kimberly Clark said an outcry in China over its Huggie's diapers hurt its sales for the quarter. There were claims on social media there that the diapers contain an industrial solvent called formamide. Huggy said an independent analysis showed that the products were safe, but the company expects that the issue will continue to affect its profits for the future. Kimberly Clark's stock added almost 4%. And Pfizer reported better than expected results, as rising sales of drugs for cancer and heart disease helped offset steep declines for COVID-19 products.

Its stock closed up about 1.5%. In legal news, New Jersey is suing Amazon. The state says Amazon illegally used its buying power to hold down compensation for thousands of delivery drivers. Amazon uses contractors to deliver its packages, and it's long maintained that its delivery service partners are independent businesses that operate their own companies and employ their own workers. And finally, there are now some 430,000 households worth $30 million or more in America. And that means that there are more services than ever catering to the wealthy. One particular service is helping the rich avoid the indignities of commercial air travel.

But for those who feel that the $14 million a cost to buy their own private jet is a little rich for their blood, a growing number of companies are offering ways to get just a little piece. Lane Floresheim, who covers lifestyle for the journal, explains what makes them appealing to the high-flying crowd. There are a bunch of different companies in this space. One of the ones that I featured isn't even taking off until next year. It's a members club called Bond. It already has 110 members who have all paid at minimum $3.7 million to join, and they are offering this ultra-luxury experience on a fleet of all Bombardier private jets.

They'll feature amenities like heated stone floors and walls covered in silk and cashmere. And it's a fractional ownership model, which means that you're paying for a stake in a plane with up to seven other owners, and you get 100 flight hours a year. If you're buying into a plane and doing fractional ownership, there are a lot of different benefits. It's often a tax write-off. You also just have a lot of flexibility in making your travel plans. And the thing that came up again and again is that people hate airports.

They hate waiting in line. Lounge just can be crowded. You're also frequently dealing with delays, cancellations. And so these kind of take away all of that. you're showing up just 20 minutes before your flight and getting right on it and going. And that's what's news for this Tuesday afternoon. Today's show is produced by Danny Lewis and Anthony Bansy with supervising producer Talley Arbell. I'm Alex O'Sullough for The Wall Street Journal.

We'll be back with a new show tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening.