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In a letter sent to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, AHA expressed its continued concerns about audit determinations denying hospitals a “mid-build exception” to the site-neutral payment policy and urged the agency to extend by at least 180 days the July 18 and Sept. 16 deadlines for hospitals to identify and return, respectively, any overpayments.

Congress should not extend Medicare sequestration to help pay for the bipartisan infrastructure framework because health care providers cannot sustain additional Medicare cuts and Medicare funds should not be used to pay for non-health care programs, the AHA, American Medical Association, American Health Care Association, National Association for Home Care & Hospice, National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, and Association for Clinical Oncology told Senate leaders in a letter. 

Alison Brisson, a member of AHA’s American Society for Health Care Engineering affiliate and director of facilities at Concord Hospital in New Hampshire, shares her reasons for getting the COVID-19 vaccine as part of AHA’s ongoing #MyWhy social media campaign to encourage vaccine confidence among the health care workforce.

Over 1.5 million people selected a 2021 health plan through the federally facilitated marketplace between Feb. 15 and June 30 during the special enrollment period created in response to the COVID-19 emergency, with an additional 600,000 enrolling through the 15 state-based marketplaces, the Department of Health and Human Services reported. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is accepting comments through Aug. 11 on whether to establish a national Medicare coverage policy for monoclonal antibodies to treat Alzheimer’s disease.

Drug overdose deaths in the United States rose 29.4% in 2020 to an estimated 93,331, including 69,710 involving opioids, according to preliminary data  released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will convene July 22 to discuss a pair of recent issues related to COVID-19 vaccines.

The Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights held a hearing on surging drug prices and anticompetitive conduct in the pharmaceutical industry.

The Health Resources and Services Administration’s Small Rural Hospital Improvement Program provided states $398 million from the American Rescue Plan Act to distribute to 1,540 small rural hospitals for COVID-19 testing and mitigation.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services late released its calendar year 2022 proposed rule for the physician fee schedule.

State Medicaid agencies can apply until 3 p.m. Aug. 13 for American Rescue Plan Act funding to establish community-based mobile crisis intervention services for individuals experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced.

The AHA Leadership Summit – one of AHA’s flagship events – will be held virtually July 28-29. AHA Executive Vice President Michelle Hood previews the conference, designed to help health care executives and trustees lead organizational transformation

The AHA, in conjunction with UnidosUS and the National Urban League, has created a video touting opportunities to participate in its Trustee Match Program.

The Federal Communications Commission released a final rule summarizing guidance adopted last month for participants in its $100 million Connected Care Pilot Program, including eligible services, competitive bidding, invoicing and data reporting.

Johnson & Johnson was notified that the Food and Drug Administration now will require that the company add to the label of its COVID-19 vaccine a warning of a small, increased risk of Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare but potentially serious neurological condition.

Non-traditional producers used additive manufacturing — also known as 3D printing — to deliver an estimated 38 million face shield parts, 12 million nasal swabs, 2.5 million ear savers, 241,000 mask parts and 116,000 ventilator parts between Feb. 15 and July 15, 2020, according to a report released by the Food and Drug Administration.  

Learn how hospital and health system leaders such as Jason D’Antona, director of engineering and utilities at Mass General Brigham, are investing in an intelligent technology infrastructure to drive greater operational efficiencies.

The AHA invites hospitals and health systems to participate in the Better Maternal Outcomes Improvement Sprint, a free, six-week program beginning July 27 that will focus on using huddles, checklists and debriefs to improve maternal health outcomes and equity.

The Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology last week released version 2 of the United States Core Data for Interoperability, which gives health IT stakeholders a clearer direction toward the standardized and electronic exchange of data focused on social determinants of health, sexual orientation and gender identity.

As summer moves along, the U.S. is marking a pivotal point in the pandemic. A majority of Americans — nearly 55% — now have received one COVID-19 vaccine dose, and 48% are fully vaccinated.