News

Johnson & Johnson said  that its COVID-19 vaccine candidate is moving to a global phase 3 clinical trial.

The RAND Corporation last week released the third edition of its hospital price transparency study, which once again missed the mark with its flawed methodology, writes Aaron Wesolowski, AHA vice president for policy research, analytics and strategy, in the AHA Stat Blog.

The Health Resources and Services Administration awarded states, territories and nonprofit organizations $341 million in fiscal year 2020 funding for the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program, which provides voluntary home visiting services to pregnant women and parents with young children.

AHA General Counsel Melinda Hatton interviews Cate Stetson, acclaimed advocate and leader of the appellate practice at Hogan Lovells, about the U.S. Supreme Court vacancy and what it means for the legal challenges facing the Affordable Care Act and other legal cases that matter to hospitals and health systems.

The House approved by voice vote the Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act, AHA-supported legislation that would repeal the antitrust exemption available to commercial health insurers for anticompetitive conduct.

The House of Representatives passed the Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act of 2019 (H.R. 4995), which would create new Public Health Service Act programs to improve maternal health.

Molly Smith, AHA vice president for coverage and state issues forum, participated in a panel discussion on reducing health care costs in the U.S. health care system without sacrificing quality, as part of The Atlantic Festival’s virtual event.

Nearly 30 representatives urged House leaders to modify in the next COVID-19 response package impending thresholds for qualifying participants in Advanced Alternative Payment Models, which they said threaten to “derail” the movement to value-based care under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act.

The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 today surpassed 200,000, according to the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University & Medicine.

The AHA is accepting applications through Nov. 23 for its 2021 Dick Davidson NOVA Award, which recognizes outstanding collaboration by hospitals and health systems for healthier communities.

The Health Resources and Services Administration released a final rule and notice expanding the types of expenses the National Living Donor Assistance Center will reimburse to include lost wages and child- and elder-care expenses for living donors who lack other forms of financial support.

The Food and Drug Administration reissued its emergency use authorization for the Abbott ID NOW COVID-19 test to indicate that the product is intended for specimens collected “from individuals who are suspected of COVID-19 by their health care provider within the first seven days of the onset of symptoms.”

The Federal Reserve Board updated its FAQs on the Main Street Lending Program to clarify its expectations for nonprofit and other facilities regarding lender underwriting.

The AHA has launched a new webpage that houses AHA-developed tools, as well as resources from the federal government and other stakeholders related to a COVID-19 vaccine.

Today, we continue to grapple not only with the COVID-19 pandemic, but also a dangerously polarized election, ongoing civil unrest in the face of untenable systemic racism … and now, 94 major wildfires that are devastating our West Coast neighbors, families and friends, as well as recent hurricanes that have brought new challenges to our colleagues in the South.

On this AHA podcast, Hyagriv Simhan, M.D., division chief of maternal fetal medicine, and Beth Quinn, program director of women’s services, at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh, discuss innovative strategies the hospital is using to engage women and families through technology.

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation posted a series of papers explaining the financial methodology for the Direct Contracting Model’s global and professional options, set to begin next April.

The AHA urged the Health Resources and Services Administration to better support hospitals and health systems in rural communities through refinements to the Health Professional Shortage Area scoring approach.

The AHA responded to a RAND Corporation study that found certain prices paid to hospitals by private health plans are high relative to Medicare. The study examined hospital prices for a limited number of employers and health plans from 2016 to 2018.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finalized a new Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation payment model aimed at transforming kidney care to ensure patients with chronic kidney disease have access to high quality, coordinated care.