News

As the AHA reflects on Juneteenth, the June 19 federal holiday recognizing the emancipation of enslaved Black Americans, it also considers how we must strive for equity in health care and beyond, writes Joy Lewis, AHA’s senior vice president for health equity strategies.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released additional FAQs on its May 2020 final rule on interoperability and patient access.

The Health Resources and Services Administration has reimbursed more than 5 million claims to administer COVID-19 vaccine to uninsured individuals, the agency announced.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention awarded states and other jurisdictions $200 million in supplemental funding from the American Rescue Plan Act to hire and train disease intervention specialists to prevent and respond to COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.

Nearly 100 bipartisan House members led by Reps. Thomas Suozzi, D-N.Y., and Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, urged the departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and the Treasury to ensure their rulemaking for the No Surprises Act reflects congressional intent for a balanced process to settle payment disputes between health plans and providers.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration published its emergency temporary standard for occupational exposure to COVID-19 in health care, meaning covered health care employers must comply with most provisions by July 6 and the rest by July 21.

What qualities make an outstanding leader, whether in health care or another field? Your list may include being collaborative, courageous, empathetic, innovative, inspiring, and intelligent. Based on my experiences and observations during the COVID-19 pandemic, I’d add a couple more: being humble and resilient. 

The Department of Health and Human Services announced a $3 billion investment in antiviral treatments for COVID-19, particularly those administered orally. The money will go toward advancing the next stages of COVID-19 treatments, including their discovery, development and manufacturing.

In part two in a series of podcasts on rebuilding maternity services at a critical access hospital, officials from the UNC School of Medicine at Chapel Hill and Chatham Hospital UNC Health Care at Siler City, N.C., discuss how a plan was fulfilled to reintroduce safe and sustainable maternity services.

Seven in 10 U.S. adults who are parents and/or care for an adult with a health condition or who is at risk for COVID-19 reported at least one recent adverse mental health symptom when surveyed between December 2020 and March 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

The AHA joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other national organizations in urging the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to affirm a district court decision that found the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act of 2005 provides broad immunity from tort liability to health care providers and other covered entities involved in the administration, manufacture, distribution, use or allocation of countermeasures during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The AHA released the next People Matter, Words Matter poster. The latest downloadable poster focuses on the commonness of mental health conditions and diagnoses, because knowing the facts is one of the best ways to reduce stigma.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated requirements for health care providers participating in the COVID-19 Vaccination Program to clarify that participants may not sell or divert COVID-19 vaccine or ancillary materials purchased for the program; reproduce the program’s COVID-19 vaccination record cards without written permission from CDC; or use or disclose data collected from vaccine recipients for commercial marketing or other prohibited purposes. 

The United States Supreme Court rejected the third major challenge to the Affordable Care Act, holding in a 7-2 decision that the challengers did not have “standing,” or the legal right to challenge the portions of the ACA they alleged were unconstitutional.

On this AHA Advancing Health podcast, Leon Caldwell, AHA’s senior director of health equity strategies and innovation, talks with Keith Ellison, program director of the Urban League of Philadelphia Entrepreneurship Center, about how the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the pivotal role local businesses play in advancing equitable health outcomes, as well as the challenges and opportunities they face during the road to recovery.

A National Institutes of Health-led review of more than 24,000 stored blood samples suggests that the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 was present in the U.S. as far back as December 2019.

The Food and Drug Administration authorized for emergency use one more batch of drug substance manufactured for the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) COVID-19 vaccine at an Emergent BioSolutions facility in Baltimore.

Rhode Island health care providers may no longer order the monoclonal antibodies bamlanivimab and etesevimab until further notice due to rising prevalence of the SARS-CoV-2 P.1 and B.1.351 variants, which are not susceptible to the combination therapy, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response announced.

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission issued its June report to Congress on refinements to Medicare payment systems and issues affecting the Medicare program, which includes recommendations approved by the commission in April.

Moderna Inc. announced an agreement with the U.S. government for the purchase of an additional 200 million doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, along with an option to purchase other COVID-19 vaccine candidates in the biotech company’s development pipeline.