News

The FBI and Department of Homeland Security are actively monitoring the situation in Israel following the recent Hamas terrorist attacks in that country and any implications they pose to the domestic threat environment, the agencies said in an Oct. 10 notice to the private sector. 

AHA applauded the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Treasury on revised requirements in the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act proposed rule which proposes specific provisions to improve oversight and enforcement including an emphasis on network adequacy and prohibition of commercial health plans efforts to restrict mental health or substance use disorder benefits.

Responding to a request for stakeholder input, AHA shared (LINK) with the House Budget Committee Health Care Task Force its recommendations to make health care more affordable without compromising access to high quality care.

AHA urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to rigorously enforce changes that were included in the calendar year 2024 Medicare Advantage final rule to improve how coverage works for enrollees, promote more timely access to care, ensure better alignment and coverage parity between Traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage, and reduce the administrative burden of health plan requirements on health care providers and their patients.  

The Medicare Part A deductible for inpatient hospital services will be $1,632 in calendar year 2024. The annual deductible for Medicare Part B will be $240 in 2024.

All hospitals and health systems provide an oasis of care, compassion and healing to the patients and communities they serve.

AHA is accepting applications through Nov. 13 for its 2024 Dick Davidson NOVA Award, which will recognize up to five member hospitals and health systems for their collaborative efforts to create healthier communities through health care, economic or social initiatives. 

The AHA is accepting proposals through Nov. 22 from senior health care executives, clinicians and experts to present at its 2024 Leadership Summit July 21-23 in San Diego.

Flu-associated medical visits and hospitalizations per 100,000 population in 2022-23 were higher among children under age 5 than for older children, but were higher for older children than for any season since 2016-17, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Oct. 12.

Two senior leaders from UVA Health in Charlottesville, Va., describe how the health system’s "Earn While You Learn" program helps build, sustain and retain its nursing workforce.

The Food and Drug Administration will accept nominations through Dec. 11 for experts to serve on a committee that will advise the agency on issues related to digital health technologies.

The Medical University of South Carolina’s National Mass Violence Victimization Resource Center Oct. 11 received an $8.9 million grant from the Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime to continue to develop evidence-based best practices, training and other resources to help communities prepare to provide timely behavioral and mental health services to victims of mass violence incidents.

U.S. tax-exempt hospitals provided over $129 billion in community benefits in 2020, 15.5% of their total expenses and nearly $20 billion more than in 2019, the AHA reports.

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AHA voices support for the CONNECT for Health Act, legislation that would increase patient access to telehealth services while removing barriers to adoption.

AHA’s new TrendWatch Chartbook presents the latest data on topics impacting the hospital and health system field, from health care spending, coverage and use to organizational and workforce trends.

The Department of Health and Human Services Oct. 6 urged health care organizations to patch a critical vulnerability in Cisco’s Emergency Responder communications platform that allows a cyberattacker to completely compromise a vulnerable system and use it for further attacks across an enterprise network.

The AHA has excellent resources to help hospital and health system teams encourage patients and people in their communities to get vaccinated against the flu, COVID-19 and RSV.

The National Security Agency and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Oct. 5 recommended organizations take steps to prevent cyber actors from exploiting 10 common network misconfigurations.

The Maryland Hospital Association Oct. 6 named as its president and CEO effective Dec. 18 Melony Griffith, who currently serves in the Maryland Senate where she chairs the Finance Committee. She is the first Black woman to lead the 54-year-old association.