News

AHA July 12 joined 64 other organizations in urging Congress to quickly pass the Restoring America’s Health Care Workforce and Readiness Act, bipartisan legislation that would reauthorize the mandatory portion of the National Health Service Corps through fiscal year 2026 and double funding for its scholarships and loan repayment for health care workers who serve in federally designated shortage areas.

The House Education & Workforce Committee July 12 voted 39-0 to pass legislation (H.R. 4509) that would require off-campus hospital outpatient departments to obtain a separate unique health identifier and include it on all claims for services billed to commercial group health plans or their enrollees.

Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore and the Center for Hospice Care in Mishawaka, Ind., will receive 2023 Circle of Life Awards July 17 at the AHA Leadership Summit in Seattle for their innovative efforts in palliative and end-of-life care. Prospero Health in Boston also will receive a Citation of Honor.

The AHA, along with members of the Mental Health Liaison Group, recently voiced support for the Helping Kids Cope Act (H.R. 2412), legislation that would provide Health Resources and Services Administration grants to expand access to pediatric mental and behavioral health services.

Health insurance policies and practices are reducing access to medical care, driving up health care costs and increasing clinician burden and burnout, according to patients and clinicians surveyed by Morning Consult for the AHA.

Federal agencies last month stopped over 500 unapproved pharmaceutical products and medical devices, including opioid and other controlled substances, from entering the U.S. from India, the Food and Drug Administration reported Friday.

The U.S. on Friday destroyed the last of over 30,000 tons of stockpiled chemical weapons, eliminating a major public health threat, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced today.

Commenting today on draft legislation to reauthorize the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act, AHA urged Congress to at least double the proposed $385 million in funding for the Hospital Preparedness Program over the next five years, among other suggestions.

Assessing the impact of artificial intelligence on health care delivery, managing workforce challenges, addressing environmental sustainability, improving the health care consumer experience: All these topics and more will be highlighted at the AHA Leadership Summit, July 16–18 in Seattle.

Following last year’s unanimous Supreme Court decision in favor of the AHA and others, the Department of Health and Human Services today issued its proposed remedy for the unlawful payment cuts to certain hospitals that participate in the 340B Drug Pricing Program.

AHA is weighing in on drug shortages that impact patient care in response to a request by Republican leaders in the House and Senate. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., chair of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, sought the information to better understand the issue.

Congress is considering several pieces of legislation that would impose billions of dollars in additional Medicare payment cuts for services provided by hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs).

Micah Niermann, M.D. discusses how Gillette Children's is reaching their pediatric community and fighting vaccine misinformation.

The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury released new FAQs on the No Surprises Act and the Transparency in Coverage final rules.  

The Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation released the first annual report on the impact of the No Surprises Act on health care markets.  

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human Services, and Department of the Treasury jointly released a Request for Information regarding certain medical payment products, including medical credit cards, loans and other financial products used to pay for health care.

The Administration released a proposed rule intended to limit the sale of non-comprehensive health care coverage and promote greater consumer understanding of their coverage options.  

The late American economist and author Peter Drucker observed that "management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things."

The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency is warning of a significant, high-risk vulnerability in Medtronic’s Paceart Optima System, which is used to compile and manage patients’ cardiac device data.

An article in the Wall Street Journal, “Some Hospitals That Spent Big on Nurses During Pandemic Are Now Short on Cash,” continues to reaffirm that hospitals and health systems are facing myriad financial challenges that threaten access to care and services that patients and communities rely on.