Issue Landing Page

Landing pages for the American Hospital Association's top advocacy issues.

America’s hospitals and health systems continue to face unprecedented financial pressures due to the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and current inflationary economy. Historic inflation has extended and heightened the already severe economic instability brought on by the pandemic resulting…
One of the most important tools that hospitals can use to increase access and quality of care and manage risk and financial pressures are mergers and acquisitions. A range of partnerships, mergers and acquisitions enable hospitals to expand service offerings, broaden networks and access to…
The Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) program provides essential financial assistance to hospitals that care for our nation’s most vulnerable populations — children, impoverished, disabled and elderly. Medicaid DSH payment reductions are scheduled to be implemented on Oct. 1, 2023 when…
Hospitals and health systems have made important progress in adopting federal price transparency requirements that require they both publicly post machine-readable files of a wide range of rate information and provide more consumer-friendly displays of pricing information for at least 300 shoppable…
The 340B program has worked successfully for over 30 years to allow eligible providers to stretch limited federal resources to provide more comprehensive programs and services to more patients. This is exactly what Congress intended when it created the program in 1992.
Some members of Congress continue to propose weakening Medicare’s prohibition on physician self-referral to new physician-owned hospitals and loosening restrictions on the growth of grandfathered hospitals. Legislation has been introduced that would allow problematic physician-owned hospitals to…
AHA is engaged on a number of evolving issues that impact the field and the patients and communities that hospitals and health systems serve. Each issue page explains the issue, outlines AHA’s position and provides resources and other supporting materials to help advocates succeed in their work.
For 25 years, the 340B program has provided hospitals with financial help to expand access to life-saving prescription drugs and comprehensive health care services to low-income and uninsured individuals in communities across the country.
Just as there are challenges to making health care more affordable, there are many opportunities to reduce costs without compromising care. Hospitals are pursuing these opportunities in variety of ways. Many are tackling the affordability issue already, seeking change that makes sense for them and…