News

President Biden today announced a major partnership between Johnson & Johnson and Merck to manufacture the latest COVID-19 vaccine to be authorized for emergency use in the U.S.

The AHA, American Medical Association, American Health Care Association, National Association for Home Care & Hospice, National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, and Association for Clinical Oncology urged Senate leaders to extend the moratorium on the Medicare sequester cuts beyond March 31.

Saint Anthony Hospital on Chicago’s southwest side is helping to meet its core mission of serving all in need of care with a recently launched maternal health care initiative and intervention program.

A recent JAMA article, “recycles old and tired arguments about hospital consolidation without any examination of the impact of consolidation in the commercial health insurance industry or related health care sectors that promise to have a profound impact on the cost, quality and accessibility of health care for consumers,” AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack writes in a new blog post.

The AHA voiced support for the Telehealth Modernization Act (S.368), legislation that would remove geographic and originating site restrictions to allow patients to receive telehealth in their homes and other locations.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services allocated $2.3 million in additional funding to current navigator grant recipients in the 28 states using the federally facilitated marketplace to help enroll consumers in marketplace, Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance coverage during the special enrollment period that runs through May 15. 

The federal government has agreed to purchase at least 100,000 doses of the combination monoclonal antibody therapy bamlanivimab and etesevimab, Eli Lilly and Company announced.

The Food and Drug Administration granted an emergency use authorization for Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine.

The House of Representatives voted 219-212 to approve a modified version of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, legislation to provide reconciliation protection for a roughly $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, which includes a number of provisions that affect hospitals and health systems.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released guidance clarifying federal requirements for health plans to cover certain items and services related to diagnostic testing for COVID-19 without cost-sharing, prior authorization or other medical management requirements.

During our rapid response to the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals and health systems have developed new ways of collecting, evaluating and sharing data to improve patient care. It’s one way the pandemic is reshaping health care now and into the future.

The Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee recommended the approval of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

Sens. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, and Chris Murphy, D-Conn., announced they will introduce the Leveraging Integrated Networks in Communities to Address Social Needs Act, AHA-supported legislation that would provide funding for states to create or enhance public-private partnerships to coordinate health and social services.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration will host a March 3 roundtable discussion on the academic, social and emotional impacts of distance learning on children during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Due to the COVID-19 public health emergency, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will apply an automatic extreme and uncontrollable circumstances policy to all clinicians participating as individuals in the Quality Payment Program’s Merit-based Incentive Payment System for the 2020 performance period, the agency announced.

Israeli patients aged 70 and older were much less likely to require mechanical ventilation for COVID-19 after most people in their age group had received the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine, according to a study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

AHA released a one-stop web hub for hospitals and health systems to find communication resources related to COVID-19 vaccines.

The Food and Drug Administration will allow undiluted frozen vials of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to be transported and stored at conventional pharmaceutical freezer temperatures (-13°F to 5°F) for up to two weeks as an alternative to its preferred storage at -112 F to -76ºF, the agency announced.

For the last few weeks, we’ve used this space to highlight the need for the next COVID-19 relief package to provide hospitals and health systems with additional resources and support so they can continue to care for patients and protect communities.

Health care disruptors forged ahead in 2020 despite the pandemic, but hospitals and health systems can embrace the opportunities for collaboration and partnership, writes Mital Patel, senior director of market intelligence at the AHA Center for Health Innovation.