News

Hospital admissions remained below expected levels through early April, while spending for hospital and ambulatory care remained below expected levels through at least June, according to an updated analysis released by Epic Health Research Network and Kaiser Family Foundation.

Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Ill., introduced the Child Suicide Prevention and Lethal Means Safety Act (H.R. 5035), AHA-supported legislation that would support training programs to help health care workers identify patients at high risk for suicide or self-harm.”

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration distributed about $850,000 each to health departments in 12 states and Puerto Rico to train first responders and community groups to prevent prescription drug and opioid overdose deaths.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed a 2018 district court decision in favor of UnitedHealth Group, rejecting the insurer’s claims that a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ rule requiring Medicare Advantage plans to report and return identified overpayments within 60 days results in underpayments.

Last week, a series of emails that became public revealed communication between executives at UnitedHealth Group and researchers studying the frequency of surprise medical billing.

Based on lessons learned over the past decade, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure and other incoming CMS leaders described in a Health Affairs blog post their vision for the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation for the coming decade, which calls for “a health system that achieves equitable outcomes through high-quality, affordable, person-centered care.”

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky, M.D., authorized a third, additional dose of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines for people with moderately to severely compromised immune systems. This includes people who have:

The opioid epidemic has been an incredibly challenging public health crisis in communities across our country. And it’s clear the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the challenges. 

Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton, Pa., and Santa Barbara (Calif.) Cottage Hospital/Cottage Health will receive the 2021 Environmental Services Department of the Year Award, the AHA’s Association for the Health Care Environment (AHE) announced. 

There’s a lot of misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines. Get the facts from the experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Medical Association.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released updated guidance for state Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program agencies on planning for the eventual end of the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Racial and ethnic disparities in U.S. maternal mortality may be larger than previously reported, according to a study published by the American Journal of Public Health.

The Food and Drug Administration announced amendments of Pfizer and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine emergency use authorizations to allow for the use of a third, additional dose for certain immunocompromised individuals.

COVID-19 has posed a steep learning curve for health care providers over the past 18 months. Hospitals and health systems have responded by sharing more knowledge, insight and best practices with each other than ever before.

The vice president of supply chain and support services at UAB Medicine in Alabama shares her #MyWhy for getting the COVID-19 vaccine and how vaccines are bringing relief to hospitals and health systems.

The AHA released a new issue of the COVID-19 Snapshot underscoring the persisting challenges facing hospitals and health systems during the ongoing public health emergency.

UnitedHealth Group and/or its affiliates will pay over $13 million to resolve federal, state and private litigation alleging violations of federal and state mental health parity laws, according to court filings in New York.

President Biden urged Congress to allow Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices and cap the amount beneficiaries pay out-of-pocket for drugs each year.

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.