News

Certain Medicare Advantage organizations have issued policies for the coming year that AHA believes do not fully adhere to requirements in the MA final rule for calendar year 2024, the association alerted the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Nov. 20.

This week, as many of us gather with family and friends to celebrate Thanksgiving, let’s give thanks for the incredible dedication, compassion and expertise of the people working at hospitals and health systems.

Fisher-Titus Medical Center in Norwalk, Ohio, addressed its nursing workforce gap by recruiting international nurses and working to create a welcoming and supportive environment where nurses choose to remain for many years to come.

Laura Appel, executive vice president of the Michigan Health and Hospital Association, and Christina Campos, CEO at Guadalupe County Hospital, New Mexico, discuss what’s involved in converting to and meeting the eligibility requirements of a Rural Emergency Hospital, and what patients stand to gain from it.

States interested in participating in Cohort 1 or 2 of the States Advancing All-Payer Health Equity Approaches and Development Model may apply until 3 p.m. on March 18 and are encouraged to submit a letter of intent by Feb. 5, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced Nov. 16.

Payment denials by Medicare Advantage plans jumped 56% for the median health system between January 2022 and June 2023, contributing to a 28% decline in median cash reserves, according to the latest analysis of data from over 1,300 hospitals and health systems by Syntellis Performance Solutions and the AHA.

From all of us at the American Hospital Association, best wishes for a happy, healthy and safe Thanksgiving.

As the nation celebrates #NationalRuralHealthDay, AHA Chair-elect Joanne Conroy, M.D., president and CEO of Dartmouth Health, discusses the challenges confronting rural hospitals and health systems in the U.S., and solutions for providing quality and cost-efficient care for the communities that need it most.

AHA Nov. 15 released its annual snapshot of employment at America’s hospitals and health systems, which offers innovative strategies to help organizations protect and optimize the well-being of current health care workers and future generations of caregivers.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Nov. 15 allocated 200 new Medicare-funded residency slots to 100 teaching hospitals in health professional shortage areas with the greatest need, as defined in the inpatient prospective payment system final rule for fiscal year 2022.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Nov. 15 released its proposed standards for qualified health plans offered through the health insurance marketplaces for 2025. Beginning in plan year 2025, the proposed rule would require state-based marketplaces (SBM) to comply with time and distance network adequacy standards for qualified health plans that are at least as stringent as those for the federally facilitated marketplace.

The Senate Nov. 15 voted 87-11 to pass a continuing resolution (H.R.6363) funding the federal government through early 2024, avoiding a government shutdown when the current CR expires at midnight Friday.

The FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Nov. 16 recommended health care and other critical infrastructure take steps to protect their networks from the Scattered Spider group, which uses social engineering techniques and legitimate remote access tools to compromise victim networks, extort ransom and steal data. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Nov. 15 finalized public reporting requirements for skilled nursing facilities participating in the Medicare and Medicaid programs, including disclosure of private equity company and other investor relationships.

More than 100 organizations, including the AHA, urged congressional leaders Nov. 14 to reauthorize for an additional five years the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act, which expired Sept. 30. The continuing resolution that passed the House yesterday would extend PAHPA until Jan. 19.

The FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center Nov. 15 issued a warning about Rhysida, a ransomware-as-a-service group that has predominantly deployed its ransomware variant since May against the health care, education, manufacturing, information technology and government sectors.

During a legislative markup Nov. 15, the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee advanced to the full committee AHA-supported legislation (H.R. 6366) that would extend for one year the Geographic Practice Cost Index floor for physician work under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and delay for one year payment reductions of up to 15% under the Medicare Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule.

Almost one in four U.S. adults reported having a mental illness in 2022, while one in five adolescents reported a major depressive episode, according to the latest national survey.

In a letter submitted to the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Health for a hearing Nov. 14, the AHA expressed support for the CONNECT Act (S.2016/H.R. 4189) and urged Congress to allow Medicare beneficiaries to access telehealth services wherever they and their providers are and allow rural health clinics, federally qualified health centers and critical access hospitals to serve as distance sites.

The AHA and American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Nov. 14 urged House and Senate leaders to oppose any policies that fail to take into account the costs of safely providing drug administration services to the complex patients that hospitals serve.