News

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra announced that the agency will require the 25,000 members of its health care workforce to be vaccinated against COVID-19. HHS said this group includes employees, contractors, trainees, and volunteers whose duties put them in contact or potential contact with patients at an HHS medical or clinical research facility.

Public, nonprofit and tribal organizations can apply until Oct. 12 for a portion of $500 million in American Rescue Plan Act grants to expand access to COVID-19 testing and vaccines, rural health care services, and food assistance through food banks and food distribution facilities.

The Senate approved on a party line vote  a $3.5 trillion budget resolution, which included reconciliation instructions which will provide the majority party with the means to pass a comprehensive reconciliation package with just 51 votes in the Senate, rather than the usual 60-vote hurdle.

Elisa Arespacochaga, AHA’s vice president of clinical affairs and workforce, outlines the critical importance of clinician well-being programs to help address physician burnout and suicides and workforce shortages, particularly during the COVID-19 public health crisis.

In this Advancing Health podcast, Emily Volk, chief medical officer at Baptist Health Floyd Hospital in New Albany, Ind., explains her hospital’s use of eight strategies when handling crises and challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, and the value that pathologists can provide in such moments.

The American College of Surgeons has released guidance to help surgeons conserve blood and blood products during the current shortage.

The AHA joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and American Medical Association in urging the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to void a district court decision that refused to allow a case involving the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act of 2005 to proceed in federal court and sent it back to state court for further proceedings.  

Commenting on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ guidance for providers and facilities on the notice-and-consent process for patients choosing to waive their balance billing protections under the No Surprises Act, as well as the public disclosure process to inform patients of these protections, AHA said implementing the provisions present “some logistical and operational challenges for providers,” particularly related to notice-and-consent documents. 

The miscarriage rate for nearly 2,500 women who received at least one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines before or during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy was about 13%, similar to the 11%-16% expected miscarriage rate in the general population, according to an analysis of data from the v-safe pregnancy registry released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

St. Peter’s Health in Helena, Mont., partnered with Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies—the Montana Coalition to connect patients experiencing perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, and their families, with community resources to support their needs.

Over 1.8 million people selected a 2021 health plan through the federally facilitated marketplace between Feb. 15 and July 31 during the special enrollment period created in response to the COVID-19 emergency, with an additional 723,000 enrolling through the 15 state-based marketplaces, the Department of Health and Human Services reported.

Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore will enroll up to 200 adults who received a kidney transplant in the past year and had no or low antibody response to two doses of the Moderna or Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in a study to see if a third dose of the vaccine induces a protective immune response, the National Institutes of Health announced.

The Senate, by a 69-30 vote, passed the massive, bipartisan infrastructure bill, sending to the House a package that contains provisions that align with hospitals’ and health systems’ priorities.

The Senate today will begin debate on a concurrent budget resolution giving Congress fast-track procedures to pass a second “human” infrastructure package of up to $3.5 trillion with a simple majority vote in the Senate.

he Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will host a call for clinicians Aug. 12 at 2 p.m. ET on preventing, diagnosing and treating COVID-19 in immunocompromised patients.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has since March investigated four cases of melioidosis, a bacterial infection rare in the United States, including two deaths.

Hospitals and health systems employed 18,300 more people in July, as U.S. jobs overall increased by 943,000, according to preliminary data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

And it’s not only what we say to patients and their families that matters but how we talk with care teams in private. Many times we may not even realize we are being insensitive or spreading stigma. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released a proposed rule that would rescind its November 2020 Most Favored Nation model interim final rule.

Given the recent upsurge in COVID-19 cases around the country, we can’t say how much longer the official public health emergency will last. But we do know that many regulatory waivers put into place by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services at the start of the pandemic have worked very well and deserve to live on past the current crisis.