News

Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Steve Daines, R-Mont., who cosponsored legislation that repealed the McCarran-Ferguson antitrust exemption for commercial health insurers, asked the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice to update them by Aug. 4 on what their agencies have done to enforce the law.

The AHA Board of Trustees adopted a policy statement that supports hospitals and health systems that adopt mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies, “with local factors and circumstances shaping whether and how these policies are implemented.”

The House Energy and Commerce Committee today advanced two AHA-supported bills to enhance maternal health care quality and outcomes, including in rural areas.

Reps. Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., Tom Cole, R-Okla., G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., and Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., today launched the bipartisan Congressional Social Determinants of Health Caucus, which will highlight opportunities to coordinate federal investments in health and social drivers of health such as food, housing and transportation.

Reps. Peter Welch, D-Vt., Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., Darin LaHood, R-Ill., and Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, yesterday reintroduced the Value in Health Care Act, AHA-supported legislation to strengthen Medicare’s value-based payment models and accountable care organizations.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today advised clinicians in the Medicare Quality Payment Program who earned but did not receive an alternative payment model incentive payment in calendar year 2021 based on CY 2019 performance to update their billing information by Nov. 1 so it can disburse their payment.

Health care delivery organizations can apply through July 31 for the 2022 Foster G. McGaw Prize, sponsored by AHA and Baxter International Foundation to recognize innovative collaborations that improve the health and well-being of communities.

A federal grand jury has charged four individuals from a China-based group known as APT40 with targeting computer systems in the United States and abroad between 2011 and 2018 to steal trade secrets and confidential business information for the People’s Republic of China, including proprietary genetic-sequencing technology and data, and infectious-disease research related to Ebola, MERS, HIV/AIDS, Marburg and tularemia, the Department of Justice announced.

The Drug Enforcement Administration published a direct final rule to clarify that either the purchaser or the supplier may enter a supplier’s DEA registration number on the new single-sheet form that DEA registrants use to order schedule I and II controlled substances. DEA will accept comments on the rule through Aug. 19.

The AHA, American Medical Association and American Nurses Association released a public service announcement urging the American public to “ask questions, follow the science and get vaccinated.”

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services late today issued a proposed rule that would increase Medicare hospital outpatient prospective payment system rates by a net 2.3% in calendar year 2022 compared to 2021.

The Department of Health and Human Services has renewed the COVID-19 public health emergency declaration for another 90 days effective July 20.

AHA member organizations are undertaking a variety of efforts to address opioid issues in their communities. Hear examples of some of those efforts from Alicia Mikolaycik Gonzalez, M.D., regional director at the Oakland, Calif.-based CA Bridge Program.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Saturday recommended clinicians consider monkeypox in patients with symptoms who traveled from Lagos Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Nigeria on July 8 to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on July 9; from Atlanta to Dallas Love Field Airport on July 9; or were in those airports on July 8-9.

The Department of Health and Human Services should provide projected time frames for its planned spending of COVID-19 relief funds, including the Provider Relief Fund, to ensure accountability for these funds, the Government Accountability Office said in a report. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will host a national stakeholders call July 22 at 3:30 p.m. ET on the interim final rule, Surprise Billing Part 1, that implements aspects of the No Surprises Act that bans balance billing in certain out-of-network scenarios.

On this episode, I have an important conversation with Robert Trestman, M.D., chair for psychiatry and behavioral medicine at Carilion Clinic and a professor at the Viriginia Tech/Carilion School of Medicine in Roanoke, Va.

The Health Resources and Services Administration Provider Relief Fund reporting portal remains open for providers to begin reporting to the government that they used federal emergency relief funds for health care-related expenses or lost revenues attributable to COVID-19.

The number of heat-related emergency department visits in the Northwest region surged June 25-30, when most of Oregon and Washington were under a National Weather Service excessive heat warning, according to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The White House announced an interagency task force and other initiatives to protect U.S. organizations from ransomware attacks. The task force has been coordinating federal efforts to improve the nation’s cybersecurity as directed by the president in April.