News

The Department of Health and Human Services plans this month to propose amending the definition of “lawful presence” for purposes of Medicaid and Affordable Care Act coverage to allow undocumented immigrants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also known as “Dreamers,” to apply for coverage through Medicaid and the Health Insurance Marketplace and qualify for Marketplace subsidies based on income, the White House announced yesterday.

Labor costs and volume disruptions drove declines in operating margins for nonprofit hospitals and health systems in fiscal 2022, Moody’s Investors Service reported yesterday based on preliminary medians data from 132 health systems.

The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) today approved four recommendations to Congress that would amend the Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital program.

The Department of Health and Human Services plans to amend its Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act declaration for COVID-19 to extend liability protections for certain COVID-19 countermeasure activities beyond the May 11 end of the public health emergency, the agency announced today.

As urged by the AHA, the U.S. Supreme Court today unanimously reversed a 9th Circuit decision that impliedly stripped federal district courts of jurisdiction over constitutional challenges to the Federal Trade Commission structure, procedures and existence.

Hospital and health system leaders from across the country next weekend will begin to arrive in Washington, D.C. for the 2023 AHA Annual Membership Meeting

Marna P. Borgstrom, who retired last March as CEO of Yale New Haven (Conn.) Health, and Andy Carter, who will retire in June as president and CEO of The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania, will receive 2023 AHA Board of Trustees Awards April 24 at the AHA Annual Membership Meeting in Washington, D.C., for their contributions to AHA and the field. 

With spring in full bloom, AHA is offering for hospitals and health system a social media toolkit promoting COVID-19 vaccination and boosters.

About 100,000 registered nurses left the workforce during the past two years due to stress, burnout and retirements, and another 610,388 reported an intent to leave by 2027, according to a study released by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. 

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission today voted to recommend Congress adopt additional site-neutral payment policies for certain outpatient services; reduce add-on payments and adopt other policies to address high Medicare Part B drug costs; and repeal the existing Medicare wage index system and phase in a new system that attempts to address current flaws.

The latest threat brief from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Information Security and Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center (HC3) reviews the top cyber threats to electronic medical records and best practices to help health care organizations prevent, detect and respond to this growing threat.

The Department of Health & Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights today released a proposed rule that would prohibit entities regulated by the HIPAA Privacy Rule from using or disclosing protected health information to investigate or prosecute patients, providers or others involved in providing legal reproductive health services.

Health care providers and consumers should not use certain N95 respirators made by O&M Halyard because they do not meet quality and performance expectations, and should not use certain surgical masks and pediatric face masks made by the company for fluid barrier protection, the Food and Drug Administration announced today.

Two experts from Seattle’s Swedish Hospital explain the role that doulas serve in prenatal and postpartum care, and how physicians and doulas can work together to reduce maternal and infant health disparities

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention yesterday reported a 32% increase in syphilis among newborns in 2021, as well as a 32% increase in syphilis and 4% increase in gonorrhea and chlamydia in other Americans

The Lown Institute’s latest report on hospital community benefits, like the previous one, is wrong and cannot be taken seriously as it once again relies on obvious biases and suffers from serious methodological flaws, AHA said in a blog published today. 

The Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology today released a proposed rule that would update certification requirements for health information technology developers under its Health IT Certification Program.

The Environmental Protection Agency today proposed requiring commercial sterilization facilities to comply within 18 months with stricter emission and control standards for ethylene oxide (EtO), a type of gas used to sterilize certain medical devices that cannot be sterilized using alternative methods.

HIPAA enforcement discretion implemented for the COVID-19 public health emergency will expire with the end of the PHE on May 11, but covered health care providers will have until Aug. 9 to comply with the HIPAA rules with respect to telehealth, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights announced today. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today issued a proposed rule for the long-term care hospital prospective payment system for fiscal year 2024. CMS estimates its proposals would decrease aggregate payments to LTCHs by approximately $24 million relative to FY 2023.