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The latest stories from AHA Today.

The House Ways and Means Committee yesterday voted 24-13 to approve legislation that would repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board. The 15-member board was created by the Affordable Care Act to make recommendations on Medicare payment policy if the projected five-year average growth in per…
The 340B Drug Pricing Program “has enabled hospitals and health systems to support and expand access and services consistent with their mission and the program’s original and ongoing charge,” the AHA and Association of American Medical Colleges today told leaders of the House Energy and Commerce…
Eliminating the Medicaid Institutions for Mental Disease exclusion for adults under age 65 would help improve access to treatment for those with severe or complex substance use disorders, AHA told the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee today in a statement submitted for a…
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce yesterday voted 23-17 to approve legislation (H.R. 3441) that would amend the National Labor Relations Act and Fair Labor Standards Act to clarify that two or more employers must have “actual, direct, and immediate” control over employees to be…
Beginning on Jan. 2, 2018, eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals attesting to the Medicare Electronic Health Record Incentive Program will submit their 2017 meaningful use attestations to the QualityNet (Qnet) secure portal, according to a notice on the Centers for Medicare &…
The Department of Health and Human Services has activated its Emergency Prescription Assistance Program for Puerto Rico following hurricane Maria, allowing residents without health insurance to obtain at no cost certain prescription drugs, medical supplies, vaccines and medical equipment at…
The Senate Finance Committee today approved by voice vote legislation to extend funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program through fiscal year 2022. Under the KIDS Act (S. 1827), the program’s federal matching rate would remain at 23% through FY 2019, change to 11.5% for FY 2020 and…
In a letter this week, the AHA again urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to take specific actions to address and prevent the serious problems that flow from hospital compliance reviews conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General and its…
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response will host an Oct. 18 webinar on lessons learned from last year’s flooding in Louisiana to help those supporting recovery from hurricanes and flooding in other communities. To…
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) last night unveiled a bill to extend funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program through fiscal year 2022, modify reductions in Medicaid disproportionate share payments to hospitals and provide $1 billion in Medicaid funding to…