News

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will accept comments through March 1 at 6 p.m. ET on its advance notice of proposed changes to Medicare Advantage plan capitation rates and Part C and Part D payment policies for calendar year 2025, which the agency estimates will increase MA plan revenues by an average 3.70%.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has issued a final rule updating regulations for Opioid Treatment Programs and standards for opioid use disorder treatment.

The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency and FBI Jan. 31 urged small office and home office router manufacturers to eliminate exploitable defects in their products and integrate security into their product design and development, citing recent reports that threat actors known as “Volt Typhoon” and associated with the People’s Republic of China are exploiting defects in these products to compromise networks across U.S. critical infrastructure.

The Cell and Gene Therapy Access Model, which seeks to increase access to treatments for Medicaid enrollees with rare and severe diseases, will initially focus on sickle cell disease, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced.

Chris Barber, president and CEO of St. Bernards Healthcare, discusses the problems certain MA plan practices can create for patients and their caregivers, especially for rural hospitals and health systems that face a unique set of challenges in caring for their communities.

U.S. syphilis cases surged 80% between 2018 and 2022, with congenital syphilis cases nearly tripling to 3,755, over 10 times the number in 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Jan 30.

In a statement submitted to the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health for a hearing Jan. 31 on national health expenditures, AHA urged the subcommittee to prevent certain Medicare Advantage plans from engaging in tactics that restrict and delay access to care while adding burden and cost to the health care system.

A record 480 accountable care organizations will participate in the Medicare Shared Savings Program in 2024, including 19 that will participate in the new permanent payment option, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced Jan. 29.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency recently required federal agencies to take emergency action to protect against actively exploited vulnerabilities in the Ivanti Connect Secure and Ivanti Policy Secure remote access gateways.

AHA Jan. 30 voiced support for bipartisan, bicameral legislation to reauthorize through 2029 the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, which provides grants to help health care organizations offer behavioral health services for front-line health care workers.

Members of Congress and hospital and physician leaders Jan. 30 highlighted at a Capitol Hill briefing how the bipartisan Safety from Violence for Healthcare Employees (SAVE) Act (H.R. 2584/S. 2768) would help protect health care workers from violence, alleviate workforce challenges and sustain quality patient care.

America’s Blood Centers and ADRP, the Association of Blood Donor Professionals, last week released a guide highlighting changes in U.S. blood donation and use between 2019 and 2021, including donor and recipient demographics.

Paxlovid may no longer be distributed with an emergency use label after March 8, the Food and Drug Administration announced.

The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) last week recommended seven changes to Medicaid managed care policy to better monitor denials and improve the appeals process.

Joining me for the first dialogue in 2024 is Janice Nevin, M.D., president and CEO of ChristianaCare, based in Wilmington, Del., and a former member of the AHA Board of Trustees.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services seeks input through May 29 on ways to strengthen Medicare Advantage data to guide policymaking and advance transparency.

The federal government has a history of reimbursing hospitals below of the cost of providing care to patients.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights Jan. 25 released guidance reminding hospitals, critical access hospitals and long-term care facilities of their obligation under Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services regulations to ensure that their visitation policies do not unlawfully discriminate based on religion or other protected bases under federal civil rights laws, including during a public health emergency.

From supporting clinical trials and street-based social work to opening new branches, Colorado-based UCHealth uses every tool it can to provide an impressive array of community benefits, much of it in uncompensated care.

Hospitals and health systems are prioritizing preserving access to care for patients in rural America, including via access points like hospital outpatient departments that provide essential services for rural and low-income communities, according to a new AHA report released Jan. 25.