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The latest stories from AHA Today.

Beginning July 6, both traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans will cover diagnostic COVID-19 laboratory tests for nursing home residents and patients through the remainder of the public health emergency, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced Friday.
Clinical laboratories and health care providers should stop using any antibody tests on the Food and Drug Administration’s “removed” test list, evaluate prior results from the test and whether to retest the patient using an FDA-authorized test, the agency said.
A new study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows emergency department visits dropped by 23% for heart attacks, 20% for strokes and 10% for hyperglycemic crises in first 10 weeks after the COVID-19 public health emergency declaration. 
A study of the first 20,000 adults hospitalized with severe or life-threatening COVID-19 to receive convalescent plasma found the investigational therapy safe in this diverse group of patients, according to findings from the Food and Drug Administration’s Expanded Access Program for COVID-19…
House Democratic leaders released legislative text for the Moving Forward Act (H.R. 2), a more than $1.5 trillion plan to rebuild American infrastructure, including roads, bridges, transit, housing and health care. 
The Department of the Treasury and Federal Reserve proposal to expand the Main Street Lending Program to nonprofit organizations, as advocated by AHA, has the potential to satisfy loan assistance needs for health care organizations ineligible for Paycheck Protection Program loans or for which PPP…
The Health Resources and Services Administration awarded 310 grants totaling $107.2 million for programs to develop and retain clinicians in rural, underserved and disadvantaged communities.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health advisory warning of an uptick over the last year in meningococcal disease in which isolates show the gene associated with penicillin resistance and mutations associated with ciprofloxacin resistance.
The Department of Veterans Affairs’ Office of Community Care recently launched a national emergency care contact center for emergency care received in non-VA facilities to simplify care coordination, eligibility determination and payment authorization information.
AHA recommended the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General clarify its proposed rule incorporating new authorities for civil monetary penalties for information blocking by health information developers, exchanges and networks, and not enforce the final rule until after…