Fact Sheets
The American Hospital Association (AHA) fact sheets on important issues facing hospitals and health systems. Fact Sheets define the terms of issues facing hospitals and health systems and provide in-depth explanations of the AHA's position on these issues.
On March 15, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) released its annual report on the commission’s recommendations for Fiscal Year 2024 Medicare payment updates.
The Issue
One of the most important tools that hospitals can use to increase access and quality of care and manage risk and financial pressures are mergers and acquisitions. A range of partnerships, mergers and acquisitions enable hospitals to expand service offerings, broaden networks and…
Some members of Congress continue to propose weakening Medicare’s prohibition on physician self-referral to new physician-owned hospitals and loosening restrictions on the growth of grandfathered hospitals. The Patient Access to Higher Quality Health Care Act of 2023 (H.R. 977/S.470), would allow…
Hospitals and health systems are committed to empowering patients with all the information they need to live their healthiest lives. This includes ensuring they have access to accurate price information when seeking care. Most hospitals use cost estimate tools to provide patient-specific price…
Significant workforce shortages at facilities, such as those in post-acute and behavioral health, is making it more difficult for hospitals to efficiently and appropriately discharge patients. Hospitals have to bear the costs of caring for patients for those excess days without any reimbursement.
During the COVID-19 pandemic and for decades prior, Metropolitan Anchor Hospitals (MAHs) have provided critical health care and social services to diverse populations in the nation’s cities.
At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government moved quickly to ensure hospitals and health systems were able to respond efficiently and effectively to a wave of unprecedented need.
AHA highlights the need to suspend Medicare sequester cuts for healthcare providers in this fact sheet on Medicare sequestration relief extension.
The Issue
The COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath have resulted in historic challenges for hospitals and health systems and the communities they serve in terms of recovery and rebuilding, placing unprecedented stress on the entire health care system and its financing.
The AHA urges Congress and the Biden Administration to extend the H@H program as currently authorized under the waiver to allow providers to continue to take steps to transform care delivery in a way that improves patient experience and outcomes while ensuring high patient safety. The Hospital…