News

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services June 30 released revised guidance detailing how it will implement an Inflation Reduction Act program to negotiate Medicare prices with makers of certain high-cost, single-source drug and biological products in 2023 and 2024 for prices effective in 2026.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services June 30 issued its calendar year 2024 proposed rule for the home health prospective payment system, which would reduce net home health payments by an estimated $375 million, or -2.2%, in calendar year 2024, relative to the year prior.

On Tuesday, we will celebrate the 247th birthday of the United States. Many people will do so with picnics, barbeques, fireworks and other hallmarks of our Fourth of July celebrations.

AHA this week released a resource on strategies and tactics that hospitals and health systems can adopt to prevent and control health care-associated infections.

A new study on physician-owned hospitals only reinforces Congress’ concerns amid calls by some to repeal restrictions on POHs, write AHA Executive Vice President Stacey Hughes and Federation of American Hospitals President and CEO Chip Kahn.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration this month awarded $31.5 million to support behavior health programs for children and youth.

As proposed by its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today recommended a single dose of the GSK or Pfizer Respiratory Syncytial Virus vaccine for people aged 60 and older who decide with their health care provider that the vaccine would benefit them.

David W. Rosenthal, D.O., of Northwell Health discusses the specific needs of LGBTQIA+ patients, education and training for health care workers, and the paths to creating competent and outstanding health care for all people.

The Department of Health and Human Services yesterday released a report on evidence-based strategies to increase physical activity among older adults in community, health care and home settings, noting that less than 15% of adults aged 65 and older meet the aerobic and muscle-strengthening activity recommendations in HHS’ Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.

The AHA is offering a new set of social messages and assets for July 4 to remind everyone of the significant contributions of hospitals, health systems and health care workers to create healthy and vibrant communities, and that it is patriotic to pause and honor health care workers on this important day.

Sixty-seven oncology physician group practices in 37 states will participate in the Enhanced Oncology Model, a voluntary five-year payment model that will begin July 1 for beneficiaries who receive systemic chemotherapy, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced yesterday.

Commenting yesterday on the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed standards for ethylene oxide use to sterilize medical devices, AHA encouraged the agency to give commercial sterilization facilities sufficient time to comply with any final standards to protect access to safe and sterile medical devices for patient care.

Commenting yesterday on two major proposed rules related to access, finance and quality in the Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program managed care and fee-for-service delivery systems, AHA told the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services the wide-ranging regulations advance many important policies that will reshape the regulatory landscape for the Medicaid and CHIP programs.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit should reverse a district court decision that prevents the Health and Human Services Secretary from implementing an Affordable Care Act requirement that private health plans cover without cost-sharing U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendations for preventive services, AHA told the appeals court in a friend-of-the-court brief filed yesterday with the Federation of American Hospitals, Catholic Health Association of the United States, America’s Essential Hospitals, and Association of American Medical Colleges.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has released a free online course to help clinicians address perinatal mental health.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released guidance on an Inflation Reduction Act provision requiring state Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs to cover approved adult vaccines recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and their administration without cost sharing beginning Oct. 1, 2023.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating four locally acquired malaria cases in Florida and one in Texas, the first locally acquired U.S. cases since 2003.

Proposals to reduce Medicare payment rates for hospital outpatient departments by aligning them with payment rates for independent physician offices and ambulatory surgery centers are based on the false assumption that Medicare overpays hospitals for outpatient services, when in fact hospitals receive only 84 cents for every dollar they spend caring for Medicare patients, resulting in a staggering negative 17.5% Medicare outpatient margin, AHA and hospital leaders told congressional and other stakeholders at a Capitol Hill briefing June 26.  

The National Cancer Institute will provide $50 million in funding over five years to five centers that will research and implement structural changes to prevent cancer and improve outcomes for people in persistent poverty areas.

On today’s episode, I talk with AHA Board Member Doug Brown, president of UMass Memorial Community Hospitals and chief administrative officer for UMass Memorial Health, which serves patients throug