News

The Food and Drug Administration on Oct. 7 will host the first in a series of virtual Town Halls to answer technical questions about test development and validation for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

The AHA continues to oppose the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ policy to include Medicare Advantage patient days when calculating the Medicare fraction of a hospital’s disproportionate patient percentage for the Medicare Disproportionate Share Hospital program, and objects to the agency’s Aug. 6 proposal to apply the policy retroactively, the association told the agency.

To continue amplifying the important message to protect against both the flu and COVID-19, AHA’s Wear A Mask and United Against the Flu campaigns have released new resources, including sample social media messages geared toward different age groups and graphics and videos on the importance of masking up and getting a flu shot.

President Trump issued an executive order creating a cabinet-level working group to develop a federal plan to better coordinate services to prevent suicide and mental and behavioral health conditions in vulnerable populations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Responding to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ physician fee schedule proposed rule for calendar year 2021, the AHA said it appreciates the agency’s effort to continue certain pandemic-era policies that have helped hospitals and health systems ensure access to care for patients during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

The AHA submitted comments on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ outpatient prospective payment system and ambulatory surgical center payment system proposed rule for calendar year 2021.

The Department of Health and Human Services opened the application process for $20 billion in funds from the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted a critical need for care that is customized, patient-centered, cost-effective and, most of all, successful. Team-based care checks all of these boxes and more.

This AHA Advancing Health podcast discusses using the “4Ms” framework for building a culture that addresses the unique care needs of older adult patients while improving value.

Job growth continued in September, albeit at a slower pace than in the summer months, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The House Committee on Oversight and Reform this week concluded a two-day hearing examining pricing practices for some of the nation’s costliest drugs. As part of the hearing, Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., released additional staff reports describing repeated actions by drug companies to raise the price of certain drugs.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and Multi-State Information Sharing & Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) released a guide to help organizations prevent and respond to ransomware attacks, including best practices and a ransomware response checklist. For additional ransomware resources, visit CISA’s ransomware webpage. 

One third of the first 750,000 Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries screened through the Accountable Health Communities Model reported having at least one health-related social need, according to preliminary findings from the model released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

The House approved an updated version of the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act that includes $2.2 trillion in additional COVID-19 relief funds.

The National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine released A Framework for Equitable Allocation of Vaccine for the Novel Coronavirus to assist and guide the federal government and decision-making bodies, including the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, as well as state, tribal, local and territorial authorities in their COVID-19 vaccine allocation planning.

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced the renewal of the COVID-19 national public health emergency declaration.

While hospitals and health systems — and their brave front-line caregivers — continue to battle the greatest public health challenge of our lifetimes, the Department of Health and Human Services recently made a change to its COVID-19 Provider Relief Fund (PRF) reporting requirements that could jeopardize access to care for patients and communities.

In part two of this podcast series, Elisa Arespacochaga, vice president of the AHA Physician Alliance, speaks with Chris Moriates, M.D., assistant dean for health care value at the University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School, and Pamela Johnson, M.D., vice president of care transformation at Johns Hopkins Health System, about how clinicians and hospital leaders are working together to enhance health care value and affordability.

State Medicaid programs must cover medication assisted treatment under a new mandatory benefit.

The AHA responded to a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services request for information regarding whether the agency should include exceptions to the electronic prescribing of controlled substances requirements in the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act.