News

The Defense Logistics Agency will begin distributing 1.5 million N95 respirators from the Strategic National Stockpile to about 3,330 nursing homes in the Medicare and Medicaid programs that have less than a three-day supply, the Department of Health and Human Services announced yesterday.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released its national training program to prevent and control COVID-19 in Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing homes. The training incorporates best practices and lessons learned from COVID-19 outbreaks in nursing homes and CMS inspections, with input from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention experts.

The National Governors Association and other organizations representing cities and states expressed concern that the Federal Emergency Management Agency may eliminate personal protective equipment and disinfectants as eligible reimbursable expenses under public assistance for COVID-19, citing recent communications from the agency.

AHA urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to provide flexibility regarding the agency’s new COVID-19 test documentation requirement for the diagnostic-related group add-on payment.

Other public health departments might benefit from implementing tools like Kentucky’s Indicator Monitoring Report, which combines multiple data elements to generate a daily COVID-19 status score to systematically assess the state’s mitigation, response and reopening efforts, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.

AHA Board Chair Melinda Estes, M.D., will be joined by Rachelle Schultz, president and CEO of Winona Health, for the next in a series of Leadership Rounds — short conversations on a range of key issues Dr. Estes will have with hospital and health system leaders from across the country.

The Small Business Administration released an interim final rule, effective immediately, on the process for Paycheck Protection Program borrowers to appeal certain SBA loan review decisions to the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals.

The Department of Health and Human Services has extended to Sept. 13 the deadline for applying for its Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund “Phase 2 General Distribution.” The previous deadline was Aug. 28.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued an interim final rule that, among other provisions, makes collecting and reporting COVID-19-data a condition of participation for hospitals that participate in Medicare. 

Associations Now, the American Society of Association Executives’ magazine for nonprofit professionals, has named AHA to its list of “100 Associations That Will Save the World.”

The AHA urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to reverse its calendar year 2021 Home Health Prospective Payment System Rate Update of 4.36% behavioral offset for the remainder of CY 2020 and beyond until all CY 2020 data are available for analysis.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has reported 100 confirmed or probable Ebola cases and 43 deaths in Equateur Province since June 1, the World Health Organization reported.

Island child care programs reported just 52 confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases after reopening in June and July, according to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

AHA Board Chair Melinda Estes, M.D., will be joined by Rachelle Schultz, president and CEO of Winona Health, for the next in a series of Leadership Rounds – short conversations on a range of key issues Dr. Estes will have with hospital and health system leaders from across the country.

An updated AHA resource examines the impact of the social determinants of health on patients and communities as they battle the COVID-19 public health emergency.

The Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization for investigational convalescent plasma to treat suspected or laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 in hospitalized patients.

There were 54 million U.S. residents 65 or older in 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The agency projects that number will grow by nearly 30 million (to 84 million) by 2050. 

In an effort to reduce regulatory burden, the Food and Drug Administration will not require developers to submit a premarket approval application, premarket notification or emergency use authorization for laboratory developed tests, the Department of Health and Human Services announced this week.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, departments of Housing and Urban Development and Agriculture, Administration for Community Living, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Health Resources and Services Administration released a joint informational bulletin to help states better coordinate federal resources and programs to improve rural health and housing for older adults and those with disabilities.

The Health Resources and Services Administration awarded $35 million in grants to support rural hospitals and health care.