News

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services awarded the 21 state-based health insurance marketplaces between $500,000 and $1.1 million each to update their systems, programs or technology to ease enrollment and comply with federal requirements, including the American Rescue Plan Act’s increased premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions for plan years 2021 and 2022. 

State and territorial health departments have resumed distributing monoclonal antibodies to clinical sites, the Department of Health and Human Services announced.

The Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury and the Office of Personnel Management (“the departments”) released proposed rules implementing certain provisions of the No Surprises Act related to enforcement, air ambulance transparency, and agent and broker disclosures. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposed repealing a final rule codifying how it defines “reasonable and necessary” coverage for items and services furnished under Medicare Parts A and B, which is scheduled to take effect Dec. 15.

The AHA Sept. 17 at 10 a.m. ET is hosting a webinar with HCA Healthcare leaders Edmund Jackson, M.D., and Jeffrey Guy, M.D., who will share oxygen conservation strategies as COVID-19 cases surge nationwide, leading to limitation in supplies.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services awarded four organizations an initial $2 million each to serve as lead organizations for the Community Transformation Track in the Community Health Access and Rural Transformation Model.

Health care providers should immediately stop using and discard all ultrasound gel and lotion products made by Eco-Med Pharmaceutical Inc. due to potential bacterial contamination with Burkholderia cepacia complex, the Food and Drug Administration said in an update.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance for health care personnel on preventing and controlling infections during the COVID-19 pandemic; managing health care personnel with SARS-CoV-2 infection or exposure; and preventing SARS-CoV-2 spread in nursing homes.

Commenting on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ physician fee schedule rule for calendar year 2022, the AHA expressed appreciation for the agency’s proposals that support care delivery and patient outcomes by extending the timeline for certain programs and continuing others beyond the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency.

More school-age children have returned to in-person learning during the last few weeks. More employees are returning to their workplaces. Sports stadiums are filling with spectators again, and theaters and concert venues are welcoming back audiences. 

The Department of Health and Human Services announced that it will distribute $25.5 billion in COVID-19 relief funds to health care providers.

The National Institutes of Health yesterday released a study revealing a 38% increase in the opioid overdose death rate for non-Hispanic Black people in four states during 2018-2019.

The AHA released a new episode of PowerPlay, the on-demand video series that connects AHA members to major players in policy, politics and science.

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce will mark up its legislative recommendations for the Build Back Better Act, which will be considered under budget reconciliation.

The Department of Health and Human Services took action to provide a pathway for all states and territories to increase access to critical COVID-19 monoclonal antibody therapeutics.

As strongly advocated by the AHA, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced that it is rescinding prior audit denials for hospitals that had failed to qualify for the “mid-build exception” so that it can review the determinations.

It’s hard to believe 20 years have passed since Americans watched in shock and horror the events that unfolded in New York City, at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania. 

The House Ways and Means Committee today started its budget reconciliation markup of the Build Back Better Act, which will consider a number of health care provisions, including workforce issues; extending the expanded Affordable Care Act Marketplace premium tax credits from this year’s COVID-19 legislation; and expanded Medicare benefits for dental, vision and hearing.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Sept. 14 at 1 p.m. ET will host a webinar focused on its information blocking regulation.

CMS by Nov. 1 will begin reprocessing claims for outpatient clinic visit services provided at excepted off-campus provider-based departments.