News

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced Medicare coverage for monoclonal antibody therapies, with no beneficiary cost-sharing for the duration of the COVID-19 public health emergency. CMS said the coverage will apply to bamlanivimab, the Lilly therapeutic that earned an emergency use authorization earlier this week.

A U.S. district court judge Nov. 3 ordered United Behavioral Health, part of UnitedHealth Group, to reprocess close to 67,000 mental health and substance use disorder benefit claims denied over a six-year period.

The Drug Enforcement Administration published an interim final rule expanding access to medication-assisted treatment under the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act of 2018.

The Senate Committee on Appropriations released all 12 of its fiscal year 2021 funding measures, including the appropriations bill for the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and related agencies.

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in the latest challenge to the Affordable Care Act.

David Zaas, M.D., chief clinical officer for MUSC Health in South Carolina and CEO of its Charleston Division, talks with Nancy Foster, AHA vice president for quality and patient safety, about strategies and tools to address burnout as health care professionals continue to care for COVID-19 patients.

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine examines the advantages, limitations and status of certain COVID-19 diagnostic tests, including reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction tests, point-of-care tests, and next generation sequencing tests.

ECRI tested 34 disposable isolation gown models made by foreign or non-traditional suppliers and found that about half did not meet the minimum U.S. standard for liquid barrier protection, the organization said in a report released.

The Department of Veterans Affairs released an interim final rule clarifying that VA nurses and other health care professionals can deliver health care services in a state other than their state of licensure, registration, certification or other requirement.

The Food and Drug Administration Nov. 10 issued an emergency use authorization for Eli Lilly and Company’s monoclonal antibody therapy, bamlanivimab.

Hundreds of hospital and health system leaders urged senators and representatives to support key priorities, including additional COVID-19 relief, during Congress’ lame-duck session.

Last week, we Americans exercised our hallowed right to vote in record numbers. We did so at a time of unusual stress, facing steep challenges and deep divisions within our country. Yet once more, we honored our democratic system and our heritage by using the ballot to speak our minds.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finalized a 2018 proposed rule implementing policy changes recommended by state Medicaid directors and others to streamline managed care regulations for the Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program.

The Medicare Part A deductible for inpatient hospital services will increase by $76 in calendar year 2021, to $1,484, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced.

AHA will provide live coverage and analysis of the Nov. 10 U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments in the latest challenge of the Affordable Care Act.

The Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization for the first serology test to identify individuals with neutralizing antibodies from recent or prior infection with the virus that causes COVID-19.

In a study of 106,543 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 between March and July, 9% were readmitted to the same hospital within two months of discharge, the Centers Disease Control and Prevention reported.

Pfizer Inc. announced that BNT162b2, its mRNA-based vaccine candidate, is more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19, based on early data that has yet to be peer-reviewed.

“America’s hospitals and health systems congratulate President-elect Biden and look forward to working with him and his incoming Administration to make progress on the important issues facing the health care field, and the patients and communities we serve,” AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack said after several media outlets called the election for Joe Biden.

The Department of Health and Human Services should fully reinstate its June COVID-19 Provider Relief Fund reporting requirements, AHA said again in a letter to the agency. On Oct. 22, the department partially restored the requirements, but not the ability of hospitals to calculate lost revenue on a monthly basis or use a budgeted-to-actual comparison.