AHA on April 26 submitted a statement to the House Education and Workforce Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions for a hearing on ways to reduce health care costs. As part of the hearing, the committee discussed several pieces of legislation, including bills to treat telehealth services as excepted benefits, expand the use of association health plans, and allow small businesses to access stop-loss insurance.
  
To increase access to quality care at reduced costs, AHA recommended Congress encourage the Administration to streamline price transparency policies, comply with a recent federal court ruling on the No Surprises Act’s independent dispute resolution process and consider other reforms to ensure it operates as Congress intended. AHA also recommended Congress permanently adopt waivers that have improved access to care, establish a sustainable framework for the future of telehealth and care delivery as a whole, and called mergers “a vital tool” to help keep some financially struggling hospitals open.

Related News Articles

Headline
A new white paper from the AHA details how integrating physical and behavioral health services can reduce the total cost of care, improve outcomes and improve…
Headline
Mergers and acquisitions are a vital tool to keep financially struggling hospitals open and allow hospitals and health systems to reduce costs, improve quality…
Headline
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit temporarily restored an Affordable Care Act requirement that most health plans cover certain preventive services…
Headline
Two experts discuss the AHA’s recently released 2023 Costs of Caring Report, which documents the skyrocketing growth in expenses, especially the cost of labor…
Headline
AHA this week joined 30 other organizations in voicing support for the Chronic Care Management Improvement Act, legislation that would remove the 20% cost-…
Headline
After three years of unprecedented challenges caring for COVID-19 patients and others, America’s hospitals and health systems face a new existential challenge…