Headline

The latest stories from AHA Today.

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission released its March report to Congress, which includes recent recommendations for hospital and other Medicare payment systems in fiscal year 2023 and a description of its prototype value-based purchasing program for post-acute care providers. 
Weekly COVID-19-associated hospitalization rates among U.S. infants and children under age 5 have declined since peaking Jan. 8, but peak rates during omicron predominance were about five times those during delta predominance, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration announced $25.6 million in grants to expand access to medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder and prevent the misuse of prescription drugs.
Without additional funding from Congress, the U.S. cannot secure sufficient COVID-19 vaccine boosters and variant-specific vaccines for all Americans; reimburse providers to test, treat and vaccinate the uninsured; provide monoclonal antibody therapies to states; or sustain testing capacity, among…
The Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions committee voted 20-2 to advance, as amended, the PREVENT Pandemics Act (S. 3799), bipartisan legislation to strengthen the nation’s public health and medical preparedness and response systems in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. 
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced a learning collaborative and webinar series to help state Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program agencies improve maternal and infant health by reducing cesarean deliveries for low-risk pregnancies.
In a civil class action lawsuit alleging Sutter Health and certain affiliates violated federal antitrust law in their arrangements with health plans, a federal jury unanimously ruled in favor of the Sacramento, Calif.-based integrated health care network.  
The Food and Drug Administration recently authorized extending from six to nine months the shelf life for refrigerated Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine stored at 2-8 degrees Celsius (about 36-46 degrees Fahrenheit), based on data submitted by the company. 
Health care providers who received Provider Relief Fund payments exceeding $10,000 total between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2020, must report to the Health Resources and Services Administration by March 31 on how they used those funds or face enforcement actions such as repayment or exclusion from…
The Transportation Security Administration will continue to require masks on public transportation through April 18 to protect against COVID-19, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends.