News

As urged by the AHA, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will make a one-time adjustment to the 96-hour average annual patient length-of-stay requirement for critical access hospitals in the Medicare program to account for its blanket waiver of the requirement during the COVID-19 public health emergency, the agency announced today.

AHA today urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to make significant revisions to some of its proposed fiscal year 2024 policies for long-term care hospitals, saying the proposed payment reductions would harm “one of Medicare’s most severely ill patient populations and the entire health care field.”

Commenting today on the fiscal year 2024 inpatient prospective payment system proposed rule, AHA urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to use its authority to adjust the market basket update to account for what the agency missed in the FY 2022 market basket forecast and eliminate the FY 2024 productivity cut, among other changes.

When people see the blue and white “H” symbol, they think of healing, hope and health. Hospitals and health systems provide care to all who need it, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

The first data on the safety of a third mRNA COVID-19 vaccine dose among young children show that a third dose is safe for children ages 6 months to 5 years old, similar to findings for doses one and two.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services June 8 announced plans to test a new Medicare and Medicaid primary care model in eight states beginning in July 2024.

The Federal Trade Commission June 8 released for public comment a notice of proposed changes to breach notification requirements for entities that collect health information but are not covered by HIPAA’s privacy and security requirements.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services June 7 finalized a policy governing the treatment of Medicare P

Mergers and acquisitions are important tools that some hospitals use to manage financial pressures and increase access to care for patients, AHA told the Senate Finance Committee in a statement submitted for a hearing June 8 on consolidation and corporate ownership in health care. 

Communicating information is critical during emergencies and disasters.

The Food and Drug Administration authorized for marketing the first at-home over-the-counter test for COVID-19 using a traditional premarket review pathway rather than emergency use authorities.

The AHA is pushing back against a recent Health Affairs article that uses flawed, debunked methodology in an attempt to undermine hospitals through preconceived notions of how the field’s finances are managed.

Escalating costs associated with managing their own practice coupled with burdensome insurer policies and regulatory requirements are some of the factors driving physicians to seek employment in other practice settings, according to a new report released by the AHA.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration today released National Model Standards for Peer Support Certification for people who help others address a substance use or mental health issue through their own lived experience.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will host a June 8 call for clinicians on an outbreak of fungal meningitis in patients who received procedures under epidural anesthesia at clinics in Matamoros, Mexico. To date, over 200 U.S. citizens have been exposed to these procedures between Jan. 1 and May 13, when the clinics closed, with three deaths reported.

As urged by the AHA and its professional membership group the Association for Health Care Resource & Materials Management, the Food and Drug Administration yesterday released guidance to help hospitals and other health care providers conserve pneumatic tourniquet cuffs after a recent recall led to local supply shortages.

AHA yesterday urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to adjust its proposed fiscal year 2024 market basket update for inpatient psychiatric facilities to account for underpayments in FY 2022 relative to inflation.

A new AHA infographic shows how legislation that would impose billions of dollars in additional site-neutral payment reductions to services provided in off-campus hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs) fails to account for the fundamental differences between HOPDs and other ambulatory care sites, would exacerbate Medicare’s chronic failure to cover the cost of care and jeopardize beneficiary access to essential care and services.

More than 200 hospital and health system leaders on June 6 participated in an AHA Advocacy Day briefing to get the latest developments from Capitol Hill. AHA leaders briefed those in attendance on a number of issues, including site-neutral payment policies, the 340B Drug Pricing Program, consolidation, physician-owned hospitals and price transparency.

A University of Michigan expert discusses how environmental sustainability efforts can benefit hospitals and health systems and supplement their other ongoing initiatives like engaging the workforce.