News

The AHA yesterday joined 85 national organizations in urging Congress to swiftly pass the Preventing Maternal Deaths Reauthorization Act (H.R.3838/S.2415), bipartisan legislation that would reauthorize federal support for state-based maternal mortality review committees, which review pregnancy-related deaths to identify causes and make recommendations to prevent future mortalities.

The AHA today joined 16 other organizations in voicing support for the Value in Health Care Act, bipartisan legislation that would extend the 5% Medicare payment incentives for advanced Alternative Payment Models under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act that are set to expire this year.

The AHA July 27 joined AHIP, the American Medical Association, and Blue Cross Blue Shield Association in urging the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services not to implement its proposed HIPAA prior authorization standards for claims attachments due to conflicting regulatory proposals, which “would create the very same costly burdens” that administrative simplification seeks to alleviate.

The Senate Appropriations Committee today voted 26-2 to approve legislation that would provide $224.4 billion in funding for the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education in fiscal year 2024, a 7% cut below the prior fiscal year.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today released its fiscal year 2024 final rule for the inpatient psychiatric facility prospective payment system, which updates the IPF payment rate by a net 2.4% in FY 2024.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today released its fiscal year 2024 Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Prospective Payment System final rule.

Nishant Prasad, M.D., program director of infectious diseases at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens, shares how his team reexamined its approach to central line-associated bloodstream infections and reduced occurrences to zero last year.

The FDA has updated its recognized consensus standards for medical devices to include more options for device sponsors to consider during premarket review. Find out how this affects your medical device.

The House Ways and Means Committee July 26 voted 25-16 to pass the Health Care Price Transparency Act (H.R. 4822), legislation that would impose additional site-neutral payment cuts and regulatory burdens on off-campus hospital outpatient departments, impose additional Medicare sequester cuts on hospitals, and codify and make changes to hospital price transparency regulations.

With the generous support of many people and organizations, Chris Manson, vice president for government relations at OSF HealthCare in Peoria, Ill., has helped deliver over 50 ambulances and tons of medical supplies to Ukraine since March 2022

Malicious actors recently exploited a Citrix vulnerability to steal active directory data from a critical infrastructure organization, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency reported recently, urging organizations to take certain steps to detect a potential system compromise and apply patches.

The departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Treasury released a proposed rule that seeks to ensure commercial health plans comply with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008, which prohibits them from imposing more restrictive requirements on mental health or substance use disorder benefits than on medical and surgical benefits.

A Modern Healthcare analysis of 340B hospitals “should be viewed with the derision it deserves,” writes AHA General Counsel & Secretary Melinda Hatton.

The Veterans Health Administration is offering free online training to help community health care providers feel confident and comfortable talking with veterans at risk for suicide about secure storage of firearms and other lethal means, which can help save lives. 

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration seeks comments through 5 p.m. Aug. 14 on its draft framework to integrate harm reduction strategies across its initiatives and partnerships for people who use drugs.

The Food and Drug Administration said it did not expect “any immediate significant impacts on supply” after a tornado damaged a Pfizer plant in North Carolina that makes sterile injectables for U.S. hospitals, but is working with Pfizer to complete a more extensive assessment and will share more information as it becomes available.

Each year, the AHA Quest for Quality Prize recognizes hospitals and health systems that have committed to and are making significant progress toward providing exceptional care to patients based on those six “STEEEP” aims.

Crews are working to restore power and assess damage to a Pfizer plant in North Carolina that makes sterile injectables for U.S. hospitals after a tornado struck the facility July 19, the company said July 21.

AHA on July 21 submitted comments on how Congress can ensure that the 340B program continues to benefit patients and communities, while acting to prevent any cuts to the program that would jeopardize patient access to care.

The Biden Administration today established the White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy, which will take over the duties of the current White House COVID-19 Response Team and Mpox Team and coordinate and develop policies and priorities related to pandemic preparedness and response.