The Growing Cost Burden of H.R. 1 OBBB
The One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) is no longer a proposal—it’s law. And for hospitals, that means a new $25 billion-a-year problem.
According to Becker's Hospital Review, the OBBB’s provisions could saddle U.S. hospitals with up to $25 billion in added annual costs due to anticipated budget hits, operational and regulatory changes in an industry that’s already drowning in administrative overhead. McKinsey estimates roughly a quarter of all healthcare spending—close to $1 trillion—is eaten by prior authorization, billing, claims, compliance, and other non-clinical work.
That’s a one-two punch: OBBB squeezes your margins while inefficiency eats what’s left.
It’s not just about dollars — it’s about operations. Manual processes, disconnected systems, overtaxed contact centers and fax-based workflows all slow care, frustrate patients and drain resources. Now with OBBB, those inefficiencies become even more noticeable…and costly
Why Manual Workflows Can’t Keep Up
Let’s be honest—front- and back-office operations were strained even before OBBB.
Front-office teams are buried in appointments, insurance, and billing. Back-office staff chase down incomplete faxes and emails, manually re-entering data into EHRs and other clinical systems.
Every delay slows care delivery, and risks patient dissatisfaction and churn. Every misstep costs money. Every incomplete task risks patient outcomes.
Now add OBBB compliance tasks on top—and the whole system starts to buckle.
- Contact center wait times grow.
- Patient satisfaction drops.
- Staff burnout spikes.
- And your operating costs climb higher.
You can’t hire your way out of this. You can’t spreadsheet your way out either. It’s time to automate.
Stop handing routine calls to your live agents.
Ushur’s AI Agent for Patient Service takes over the repeat inquiries—so your team can focus on higher value activities.
- Lets patients self-serve via chat, text or voice (24/7) instead of waiting on hold.
- Responds in plain language, across languages and channels—right where your patients are.
- Built for healthcare: Compliant, accurate, secure and integrated with your workflows and systems.
- Handles escalations expertly: Routing to appropriate live resources when that matters most for emergent situations.
Outcome: Fewer wait times, happier clinical and non-clinical teams, no extra hires, 24/7 availability without the premium cost.
End the fax-and-email bottleneck in your back office
Ushur’s provider order intake automation turns manual, time consuming chaos into clean, usable data—fast.
- Automates and ingests inbound faxes and emails, classifies them, and extracts patient and order information with precision.
- Reaches out automatically for missing details—no manual information chasing, no manual re-entry.
- Integrates directly with your EHR and scheduling systems so every order flows where it should.
Outcome: Fewer errors, faster patient throughput, and staff freed from data drudgery.
A Real-World Case Study: Diagnostic Imaging Provider
One leading diagnostic imaging provider processed millions of faxes each year—manually. Orders got lost. Patients dropped off–turning to faster competitors. Revenue leaked.
Then they automated with Ushur.
- Order intake processing speed improved by 90% (from days to hours).
- More referrals converted to appointments
- Staff workload plummeted.
- Patient engagement through digital channels soared.
That’s not theory—it’s what automation looks like in real provider environments.
Why Now?
With OBBB effects coming, every delay, every manual task, every redundant process now carries a price tag. Traditional staffing models won’t scale fast enough to absorb the regulatory and operational complexity ahead.
Small tweaks won’t make enough of a difference. Tightening a few processes here and there won’t close the gap. Strategic hiring, even if budgets allow, cannot keep pace with the sheer scale of administrative complexity. And when paired with legacy, manual workflows, those efforts only paper over the problem instead of solving it.
Relief from regulatory and patient pressure will come with AI-powered automation that:
- Drives cost savings and slashes administrative overhead.
- Speeds up patient access to care.
- Keeps engagement personal, accurate and compliant.
Conclusion: The Time to Act Is Now
OBBB is moving rapidly from policy possibility to operational reality. The financial and operational pressures it introduces are real — but so is the opportunity to transform how communication and care are delivered.
Hospitals and health systems that embrace AI-powered automation today will not only control costs, but also future-proof their operations, empower staff, and deliver a faster, more connected patient experience.
At Ushur, we make that transformation achievable. Our AI Agents and automation solutions deploy in weeks, integrating seamlessly with your existing systems — no extra headaches, just measurable results: lower administrative overhead, higher staff efficiency, and more satisfied patients.
$25 billion is a big number. The bigger question is: how much of it are you ready to save?