News

A recent Washington Post article on medical debt “missed a major reason that medical debt has increased in our country: the rise of high-deductible and skinny insurance plans that result in larger out-of-pocket expenses for consumers,” writes AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack in a letter to the editor published yesterday, noting that hospitals do more than any other part of the health care field to support patients and communities in need

In a blog published today, AHA refuted a number of suggestions that appeared in a recent Health Affairs column discussing what is behind the financial losses at large nonprofit hospitals.

The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday affirmed a district court’s decision dismissing a lawsuit that sought to turn a hospital’s decision not to hire a physician into a False Claims Act suit based on the Anti-Kickback Statute.

AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack today took part in a Kaiser Permanente launch of a new initiative (LINK) to help expand support for public health.

In response to Drug Enforcement Administration proposals to limit telehealth prescriptions for buprenorphine and other controlled substances after the COVID-19 public health emergency to a 30-day supply unless the prescriber or referring clinician have evaluated the patient in person, AHA today urged the agency to establish a special registration process (as statutorily mandated) to waive the in-person evaluations for practitioners who register with the DEA.

AHA today applauded and urged the Food and Drug Administration to finalize its draft guidance proposing that blood donor eligibility be determined based on individual risk assessment, regardless of gender or sexual orientation.

AHA today voiced support for bipartisan legislation that would create a Rural

The AHA and the Federation of American Hospitals are urging Congress to oppose the Patient Access to Higher Quality Care Act (H.R. 977/S.470) and any other proposals that would allow unfettered growth of physician-owned hospitals, citing new data

The March 21 Health & Science article “Many Americans — especially those below U.S. poverty level — are buried in hospital bills” missed a major reason that medical debt has increased in our country: the rise of high-deductible and skinny insurance plans that result in larger out-of-pocket expenses for consumers.

Hospital operating margins dipped again in February to -1.1% and continue to remain negative, though with less month-to-month variation, according to the latest report on hospital finances from Kaufman Hall.

The AHA and AHIP today filed a friend-of-the-court brief in a False Claims Act case before the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that the federal government’s erroneous construction and expansion of the FCA threatens the legitimate business activities of every government contractor, hospital, healthcare provider, health insurance provider, and grant recipient in the nation. 

Compared to other hospitals, physician-owned hospitals treat less medically complex and more financially lucrative patients, provide fewer emergency services and treat fewer COVID-19 cases, according to data from health care consulting firm Dobson | Davanzo released today by the AHA and Federation of American Hospitals. 

AHA today submitted a statement to the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health for a hearing this afternoon examining price transparency and competition in health care.

New drug shortages increased nearly 30% last year to their highest level in almost five years, according to a report released last week by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee for a hearing on the issue.

In the first of two new blogs in the Institute for Diversity and Health Equity’s monthly series highlighting Black women health care leaders, Dana Weston Graves, president of Sentara Princess Anne Hospital, discusses the importance of advocacy and being the person she needed in her life when she was younger to support others like her. The second blog, by Jandel Allen-Davis, MD, president and CEO of Craig Hospital, discusses why she is a “warrior” when helping support historically marginalized communities.

AHA’s Trustee Services and Behavioral Health teams have released a guide to help hospital and health system boards understand and prevent suicides in the health care workforce, including resources to help begin the conversation about behavioral health supports for the workforce.

In a statement and blog post Friday, AHA took issue with a recent Washington Post editorial calling for payment cuts to hospitals and health systems as part of efforts to stabilize the Medicare program.

Medicare patients who receive care in a hospital outpatient department are more likely to come from medically underserved populations and be sicker and more complex to treat than Medicare patients treated in independent physician offices and ambulatory surgical centers, according to a study by KNG Health Consulting released today by the AHA, underscoring why proposals to compensate hospitals and health systems the same as IPOs and ASCs under Medicare would threaten patient access to care.

On this episode, I talk with Bob Garrett, CEO of Hackensack Meridian Health, based in New Jersey. Bob and I discuss the important role of hospitals and health systems in leading medical research and innovation to transform health care and make patient care better, accessible and more efficient.

Hospitals and health systems are invited to showcase their innovations, models and examples of leadership on a global stage by submitting abstracts for oral or poster presentations at the 46th World Hospital Congress, Oct. 25-27 in Lisbon, Portugal.