News

The Health Resources and Services Administration awarded cities, counties, states and community organizations $2.21 billion in fiscal year 2021 grants to support medical and support services, including medications, for people with low income who have HIV. 

The frequency of anxiety and depression symptoms among U.S. adults increased after August 2020 and peaked during December 2020 and January 2021, mirroring the national weekly number of new COVID-19 cases, according to a study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Health care providers registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration must use the new single-sheet form to order schedule I and II controlled substances, effective Oct. 30, the agency announced.

The rise in COVID-19 cases due to the delta variant “continues to exacerbate the shortage of hospital workers, hampering recruitment and retention, driving up wages and weighing on hospitals' profitability,” according to a report released by Moody’s Investors Service. 

As recommended by the AHA, the Food and Drug Administration proposed revising 2016 draft guidance to allow hospital and health system pharmacies that are not outsourcing facilities to distribute compounded drug products to any health care facility in the same system without first receiving a valid prescription or order for an individual patient. Previously the guidance limited this allowance to facilities within a one-mile radius. 

The AHA urged congressional leaders to include in year-end legislation provisions to extend the moratorium on Medicare sequester cuts and to prevent the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (Statutory PAYGO) sequester from taking effect at the end of this session of Congress. 

Within the Grand Rapids, Mich., community, the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated already worrisome increases in behavioral health needs and suicide ideation among children.

About 275,000 low-income adults are now eligible for coverage under Medicaid expansion in Missouri, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and 21 other organizations, including the AHA, urged Congress to maintain the current legal and regulatory framework for evaluating mergers and acquisitions. 

Anthem, the country’s second-biggest health insurance company, is behind on billions of dollars in payments owed to hospitals and doctors because of onerous new reimbursement rules, computer problems and mishandled claims, says a Kaiser Health News article that is spotlighted in USA Today.

Kentucky, Maine and New Mexico have completed their transition from the federally facilitated marketplace to their own state-based marketplaces for the 2022 plan year, the Department of Health and Human Services announced.

Johnson & Johnson announced its request that the Food and Drug Administration amend the current emergency use authorization for the J&J COVID-19 vaccine to include a booster dose.

AstraZeneca said it has requested an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for its long-acting antibody combination for the prevention of symptomatic COVID-19.

The Food and Drug Administration authorized the emergency use of a new over-the-counter COVID-19 antigen test. Unlike most antigen tests for at-home use, the new test does not require serial testing, FDA said.

COVID-19 vaccinations may have helped prevent an estimated 265,000 COVID-19 infections, 107,000 hospitalizations and 39,000 deaths among Medicare beneficiaries between January and May 2021, according to a study released by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.

The upcoming Accelerating Health Equity Conference is seeking participants who can help lead discussions via breakout sessions or poster presentations.

The Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee Oct. 1 announced that it will meet later this month for a pair of significant discussions on COVID-19 vaccines.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency last week released guidance intended to streamline the application process for hospital generator projects under its Hazard Mitigation Assistance programs.

The Health Resources and Services Administration Oct. 5 will host the second in a series of webinar sessions on how to apply for a portion of $25.5 billion in COVID-19 relief funds.

When we speak about hospitals and community benefit, it’s often a story focused on numbers. But it’s always about the people we serve.