News

President Biden released a notice extending the national emergency declaration for the COVID-19 pandemic beyond March 1. The notice will be published in tomorrow’s Federal Register. It does not indicate an end date for the emergency declaration. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought many new challenges to America’s health care system. It also has exacerbated existing issues that were already in need of attention before the pandemic. 

A new four-part tool is available to help hospitals and health systems estimate the cost and benefit of interventions to prevent health care-associated infections.

The Department of Homeland Security released a proposed rule that would exclude noncash benefits, such as the Children’s Health Insurance Program and most Medicaid benefits, when making a public charge inadmissibility determination for noncitizens requesting admission to the United States or permanent residency.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released Medicare payment codes effective Feb. 11 for administering the monoclonal antibody bebtelovimab, effective against the omicron COVID-19 variant.

The Food and Drug Administration announced a Class 1 recall of the E25Bio COVID-19 Direct Antigen Response Test, which was marketed and distributed to U.S. customers without authorization or approval.

The Senate voted 65-27 to pass and send to the president a continuing resolution that would fund federal programs through March 11 to prevent a government shutdown when the current CR expires Feb. 18.

The Senate passed and sent to the president the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act (H.R. 1667), AHA-supported legislation that would authorize grants for programs that offer behavioral health services for front-line health care workers.

The American Organization for Nursing Leadership on April 12 will present its 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award to Maureen Swick, senior vice president and enterprise nurse executive for Atrium Health in Charlotte, N.C.

In a commentary published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highlight a decline in certain patient safety indicators during the COVID-19 pandemic and call for a renewed focus on patient safety going forward.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will host a conference call for health care providers Feb. 23 at 2 p.m. ET on the No Surprises Act’s continuity of care, provider directory and public disclosure requirements.

The AHA released the latest edition of its COVID-19 Snapshot underscoring the persisting challenges facing hospitals and health systems during the ongoing public health emergency.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services requested information for 60 days on barriers to accessing health care coverage and services through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. 

In a statement submitted to the House Education & Labor Committee for a subcommittee hearing on “pathways to affordable, universal health coverage,” the AHA called for continued efforts to expand Medicaid in non-expansion states; permanent federal subsidies for lower- and middle-income individuals and families; renewed funding for marketplace cost-sharing subsidies and reinsurance mechanisms; and robust enrollment efforts.

Baptist Health in Jacksonville, Florida, reflects on lessons learned and best practices moving forward. We know that our field will continue to be challenged by COVID-19, but this pandemic has taught us a valuable lesson: The future is not going to wait for us, and instead we have to be ready to embrace it.

The Joint Commission has released an advisory that reviews recommended safety actions for reprocessing reusable instruments and devices. 

As the AHA reflects on Black History Month, the organization is also considering how its work can increase efforts to advance healthy equity, writes Joy Lewis, AHA’s senior vice president for health equity strategies.

With COVID-19 demonstrating how change happens every day in health care, there is nonetheless optimism for the future, say Jeffrey Flaks, president and CEO of Hartford HealthCare, and Rebecca Stewart, Hartford’s vice president of content strategy.

AHA launched a new ad highlighting the need for Congress and the Administration to immediately distribute COVID-19 Provider Relief Funds and other resources, while requesting that Congress halt imminent Medicare cuts that could further destabilize hospitals as they care for patients and communities.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services plans in late March to launch at the federally facilitated health insurance marketplace a new monthly special enrollment period for consumers with household incomes below 150% of the federal poverty level who aren’t eligible for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program.