News

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a final rule that increases Medicare inpatient prospective payment system rates by a net 2.5% in fiscal year 2022, compared to FY 2021, for hospitals that are meaningful users of electronic health records and submit quality measure data.

Health care delivery organizations now have until Aug. 14 to apply for the 2022 Foster G. McGaw Prize, sponsored by AHA and Baxter International Foundation to recognize innovative collaborations that improve the health and well-being of communities.

Read a recap and insights from health care leaders during AHA’s July 15 webinar, “Addressing COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Your Community,” featuring messaging points tailored to specific communities and key lessons from a Kaiser Permanente study.

In response to a higher demand for children’s behavioral health care services and an alarming rise of youth suicides, Columbus, Ohio-based Nationwide Children’s increased its commitment to provide integrated care for kids in crisis.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the first interchangeable biosimilar insulin product to treat diabetes.

Three-quarters of the 469 COVID-19 cases associated with summer events and large public gatherings this month in Barnstable County, Mass., were in people fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

About 8.9 million children aged 12-17 have received the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration awarded $250 million in grants to expand access to mental health and substance use disorder treatment services through Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics.

AHA joined 27 other organizations that serve the mental, emotional and behavioral health of children in urging Congress to strengthen the pediatric mental health delivery system and infrastructure.  

The COVID-19 Provider Relief Fund has been a lifeline for hospitals, health systems and health care providers, allowing them to continue to put the health and safety of patients and health care personnel first. In many cases, the funds ensured they were able to keep their doors open. 

President Biden announced new actions to spur more vaccinations nationwide against COVID-19, due in part to the rise of the SARS-CoV-2 delta variant

Communities of color, who over the past year have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, also experienced emotional distress exacerbated by events surrounding the murder of George Floyd.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services launched the Infant Well-Child Visit Learning Collaborative, a webinar series and affinity group to help state Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs increase well-child visits for infants from birth to 12 months old.

The Department of Defense, General Services Administration, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration released a proposed rule intended to support domestic production of products critical to national and economic security.

The AHA released new Spanish-language public service announcements and related content pieces to support vaccination efforts and complement previously released English-language PSAs.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will host an Aug. 11 webinar on complying with the hospital price transparency rule, which took effect Jan. 1.

The House voted 219-208 to approve legislation that would provide $253.8 billion in funding for the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education in fiscal year 2022, a 28% increase over the prior fiscal year.

AHA urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to make permanent COVID-19 waivers that removed regulatory barriers to better patient care, and temporarily extend certain other waivers beyond the public health emergency to help hospitals transition back to normal care delivery.

The Food and Drug Administration July 28 extended to six months the shelf life for Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine.

The Provider Relief Fund Deadline Extension Act (S. 2493/H.R. 4735) was introduced in the Senate and House. The AHA-supported bill would allow providers that received COVID-19 Provider Relief Fund payments prior to June 30, 2020, to use their payments through Dec. 31, 2021, or the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency, whichever is later.