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Commenting yesterday on the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission’s draft recommendations for 2021, AHA said it supports the recommendation to provide current law market-basket updates for the hospital inpatient and outpatient prospective payment systems, but urged the commission to consider a higher update in light of the “sustained and substantial” negative Medicare margins hospitals face.

The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations today held a hearing to highlight how federal funds have helped states combat the opioid crisis and to learn what additional help Congress can provide the states.

Department of Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary Eric Hargan will address the AHA’s Rural Health Care Leadership Conference Feb. 3 in Phoenix, the association announced today.

States expanding Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act had a 6% lower rate of opioid overdose deaths by county after the expansion than did other states, according to a study reported Friday in JAMA Network Open.

Nearly 72,600 Americans died from alcohol-related causes in 2017, double the number in 1999, according to a new study by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, part of the National Institutes of Health.

The AHA, joined by Association of American Medical Colleges and several member hospitals, today filed a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services for continuing to reduce in calendar year 2020 payments for hospital outpatient services provided in off-campus provider-based departments grandfathered under the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015.

Beginning in March, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will implement a streamlined survey and certification process for psychiatric hospitals, the agency announced today.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently updated its discharge planning guidance for clinicians treating patients hospitalized with suspected vaping-associated lung injury.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to recommend early treatment with antiviral medications for hospitalized patients and high-risk outpatients with flu, including children under 2 years old, the agency said Friday in an advisory.

The Department of Labor yesterday released a final rule updating and clarifying how it interprets joint employer status under the Fair Labor Standards Act, which aims to promote certainty for employers and employees, reduce litigation and encourage innovation in the economy.

Health care professionals are driven by heart. They are energized by a challenge to improve the lives of others. And they are dedicated to always doing what’s best for our patients. This mission has fueled me throughout my career, and it’s the reason I’m looking forward to working with all of you during my year as chair of the AHA Board of Trustees. 

The Health Resources and Services Administration should increase its oversight of private nonprofit hospitals that participate in the 340B drug savings program to ensure they meet eligibility requirements, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released today.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly has reached agreement with Senate Republicans on a bipartisan proposal to expand Medicaid eligibility to low-income uninsured adults by 2021.

A program created by the Camden (N.J.) Coalition of Healthcare Providers to coordinate outpatient care and social services for patients with complex medical and social needs after discharge from the hospital does not significantly reduce readmission rates, according to a randomized, controlled trial reported this week in the New England Journal of Medicine.

A study on hospital mergers and quality described in a recent article in The Wall Street Journal uses data that is not sufficiently up to date and therefore of minimal value for assessing the benefits of hospital mergers.

Employment at the nation's hospitals rose by 0.17% in December to a seasonally adjusted 5,297,100 people.

Brian Donley, M.D., CEO of Cleveland Clinic London, will chair AHA's Health Care Systems Council in 2020, and Penny Wheeler, M.D., president and CEO of Allina Health, Minneapolis, will serve as chair-elect.

Election Day is fewer than 10 months away so get ready, get connected and get involved.

A federal appeals court yesterday denied the administration’s request to reverse a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking a Department of Homeland Security rule that would limit the ability of legal immigrants to adjust or extend their immigration status or gain full citizenship based on their prospective receipt of public benefits.

Health care providers should notify their state and local health departments and infection control personnel immediately if patients with unexplained severe respiratory illness developed symptoms within two weeks of returning from Wuhan City, China, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised yesterday.