News

The House Dec. 11 voted 320-71 to pass legislation (H.R. 5378) that would delay a Jan. 19 payment reduction to Medicaid disproportionate share hospitals for two years, but permanently reduce Medicare payments for drug administration services in off-campus hospital outpatient departments.

In an unconvincing effort to claim hospitals are not living up to their mission, the author of a recent op-ed in the New York Times ignores the unparalleled benefits hospitals of all types provide to their communities, writes AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services should require Medicare Advantage plans to submit additional data and the agency should publicly release the MA data it already collects, a bipartisan group of senators told the agency last week.

The AHA today urged members of the House of Representatives to oppose H.R. 5378, legislation scheduled to be voted on tonight, unless site-neutral provisions are removed from the bill.

This year marked the AHA’s 125th year as an advocate in the health care field for hospitals and health systems and their patients, health care professionals and communities.

The creators of Grady Health System’s Teen Experience and Leadership Program describe how providing hands-on internships for local teens is helping to build its workforce pipeline for decades to come.

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission Dec. 8 discussed draft payment update recommendations for 2025, which the commission will vote on in January.

Health care workers encounter adverse events and stressful situations that may require time and space to process.

Even prior to the pandemic, the biggest questions facing health care providers were: Where is our field headed? And, how can we continue to innovate and transform to deliver the best possible patient care in a fast-changing future?

The Home Test to Treat program now offers free testing, telehealth and treatment for both COVID-19 and flu to eligible adults nationwide, the National Institutes of Health announced.

Nearly 7.3 million people selected a 2024 health plan through the federally facilitated and state-based Health Insurance Marketplaces Nov. 1 through Dec. 2, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced Dec. 6.

The Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Justice, and Federal Trade Commission Dec. 7 announced several new actions to promote competition in health care and support lower prescription drug costs.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee Dec. 6 advanced 19 health care bills, including legislation (H.R. 6364) that would prevent Medicare from publicizing a telehealth provider’s home address when the provider delivers telehealth services from their home.

The AHA Dec. 7 sent a letter supporting the Support for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act (H.R. 4531), bipartisan legislation that would reauthorize key SUPPORT Act programs for patients with substance use disorder and permanently extend required Medicaid coverage for medication-assisted treatments.

Kristine Olson, M.D., chief wellness officer at Yale New Haven Hospital, discusses how the hospital is working to develop wellness and well-being across the organization and the positive results.

Registration for AHA's 2024 Accelerating Health Equity Conference, May 7-9 in Kansas City, Mo., opens Dec. 6 with an early-bird discount period that runs through March 31.

A recent Modern Healthcare article suggests that hospitals’ charity care as a share of expenses declined between 2020 and 2023, but the authors’ own data tell a different story, write AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack and Catholic Health Association President and CEO Sr. Mary Haddad.

The Department of Health and Human Services Dec. 6 released a concept paper outlining its cybersecurity strategy for the health care sector, which builds on a national strategy President Biden released last year.

AHA Dec. 6 expressed concern that the outpatient prospective payment system final rule for calendar year 2024 contains an error that reduces reimbursement for hyperbaric oxygen therapy by over 40%, and urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to issue a correction establishing an accurate payment before Jan. 1.

A bipartisan group of senators this week introduced the Protect Rural Seniors’ Access to Care Act, AHA-supported legislation that would prohibit the Health and Human Services Secretary from finalizing a proposed rule on minimum staffing for long-term care facilities.