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The latest stories from AHA Today.
The House Appropriations Committee yesterday released legislation that would provide discretionary funding for the federal government through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year. The bill includes $73.5 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services, a $2.8 billion increase from FY…
The age-adjusted death rate declined 25% for black Americans and 14% for white Americans between 1999 and 2015, reducing the overall disparity between black and white death rates from 33% to 16%, according to a report released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Among…
The Department of Veterans Affairs yesterday expanded its access and quality tool to include certain inpatient quality data for every VA medical center. Released last month, the tool shows how VA medical centers compare with regional and national averages and non-VA hospitals in their area on…
The QualityNet portal is accepting Quality Reporting Document Architecture Category I files for electronic clinical quality measure reporting for the calendar year 2017 Inpatient Quality Reporting and Medicare Electronic Health Record Incentive Programs. Hospitals and eligible professionals can use…
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), ranking member of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Health Care, will address the AHA Annual Membership Meeting during the morning Federal Forum Plenary on Tuesday, May 9. Stabenow also serves on the Senate Budget Committee. For more on the AHA meeting, May 7-10 in…
Average readmissions penalties in the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program doubled in the first five years of the program, from 0.29% in 2013 to 0.6% in 2017, according to a study published today in Health Affairs. “The penalty burden was greater in hospitals that were urban, major teaching…
Six in 10 Americans identify lowering the cost of prescription drugs as a “top priority” for President Trump and Congress when it comes to health care, according to a recent poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Friday announced a plan for ensuring a continuous supply of yellow fever vaccine for travelers to countries where the virus is endemic or epidemic. Supplies of the only U.S.-licensed vaccine are expected to run out soon due to recent manufacturing…
As urged by the AHA, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit today affirmed a district court decision blocking Anthem’s proposed acquisition of Cigna.
AHA-supported legislation introduced yesterday in the Senate would permanently extend add-on payments for ambulance services, which are set to expire Dec. 31. The Medicare Ambulance Access, Fraud Prevention, and Reform Act (S.967) was introduced by Sens. Pat Roberts (R-KS), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI),…