News

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights will not impose penalties on covered health care providers, their business associates or vendors for HIPAA rule violations connected with web-based applications used in good faith to schedule individual appointments for COVID-19 vaccination, the agency announced.

President Joe Biden is expected to sign a series of executive orders to address COVID-19, along with other health care-related actions.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released a guide to participating in Quality Payment Program advanced alternative payment models in 2021.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Jan. 15 added new frequently asked questions to its FAQs on the information blocking provisions in its final rule updating information sharing provisions for health care providers, health IT developers and health information exchanges.

The AHA recently signed on in support of model legislation that states can use to hold health insurers accountable for discriminating against those with mental health and substance use disorders by denying coverage of care.

The AHA announced Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington, Vt., as the 2020 recipient of the Rural Hospital Leadership Award.

The AHA has elected to a vacancy on its Board of Trustees Russ Gronewold, CEO of Bryan Health, a five-hospital health system headquartered in Lincoln, Neb. He also will serve as chair of Regional Policy Board 6.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Jan. 15 released two planning tools to help states return to regular Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program operations after the COVID-19 public health emergency ends, when many flexibilities and waivers granted to states for the emergency will end unless extended or made permanent.

The Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network has launched a collaborative to accelerate the transition to alternative payment models to advance resiliency to events such as the COVID-19 public health emergency.

The Department of Health and Human Services announced a $20 million investment in several initiatives that will help increase data sharing between health information exchanges and immunization information systems.

Physicians registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration will no longer need to meet the X-waiver requirement to prescribe treatments such as buprenorphine for opioid use disorder, the Department of Health and Human Services announced.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar directed the department’s operating divisions and offices to review and revise their procedures related to civil enforcement actions and adjudications “to ensure that they promote fairness and transparency.”

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finalized additional provisions for the Medicare Advantage and Part D prescription drug programs beginning in 2022.

As urged by the AHA, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services officially withdrew a proposed rule intended to increase oversight and transparency in Medicaid supplemental payment programs, including Disproportionate Share Hospital payments, and how states finance these programs.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released a final rule that implements some of the standards governing health insurance issuers and the Health Insurance Marketplaces (or “exchanges”) for 2022.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a final rule that seeks to streamline prior authorization processes implemented by health plans serving the Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program and federal Health Insurance Marketplace.

President-elect Biden is planning to host a memorial to remember and honor the lives lost to COVID-19 on Tuesday, Jan. 19 — the night before he is inaugurated president.

As COVID-19 surges continue, lessons learned by health systems large and small reveal the importance of teamwork, communication, flexibility, preparation and supporting the physical and mental health of all staff.

The Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights announced collaborative efforts with the state of North Carolina, the North Texas Mass Critical Care Guidelines Task Force, the Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council, and the Indian Health Service in updating each entity’s crisis standards of care to provide equitable health care to individuals with disabilities and the elderly.

President-elect Joe Biden named former Food and Drug Administration commissioner David Kessler, M.D., as Chief Science Officer of COVID Response, a role that will assume the responsibilities of the current head of Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration effort focused on the development and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.