News

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Community Living this week released its first National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers, developed by two congressionally mandated advisory councils to foster public-private collaboration to support the millions of Americans who provide assistance to a family member with a health condition or functional limitation.

AHA today released the special edition podcast “How Prior Authorizations Can Harm Patient Care,” addressing how some health plan prior authorization policies delay or deter necessary patient care, potentially putting patients’ lives at risk.

AHA today urged the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to deny the Department of Health and Human Services’ request to modify a court order requiring it to completely eliminate the remaining 19,802 Medicare appeals backlogged at the Administration Law Judge level.

Forty-six days from now on Nov. 8 millions of Americans will cast their ballots and exercise their most sacred right – the right to vote.

CMS today approved a state plan amendment allowing North Carolina to extend postpartum coverage from 60 days to 12 months after pregnancy for Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program enrollees under the American Rescue Plan Act.

The Senate Finance Committee today released a discussion draft of legislation to expand the mental health workforce.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia should reject HHS' request to devise on its own timeline a remedy for its 2018 and 2019 underpayments to 340B hospitals, with no limitations and no oversight by the court, AHA told the D.C. court yesterday. 

The AHA and AMA will file an amicus brief in support of a lawsuit filed today by the Texas Medical Association challenging the federal government’s August final rule governing the No Surprises Act’s independent dispute resolution process.

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra yesterday declared a public health emergency in Puerto Rico due to flooding from Hurricane Fiona, and waived or modified certain Medicare, Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program requirements to ensure sufficient health care items and services are available.

The House Ways and Means Committee today voted to advance to the full House bipartisan legislation (H.R. 8876) that would reauthorize the federal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program, and double annual funding for the program to $800 million over five years.

AHA is continuing its annual work to help hospitals and health systems encourage their communities to stay healthy and protect themselves against the flu and COVID-19 through vaccination.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention yesterday recommended clinicians adhere to all recommendations to prevent monkeypox transmission in health care settings, including using the recommended personal protective equipment.

UnitedHealth Group may proceed with its proposal to acquire Change Healthcare, a federal district judge ruled yesterday. The Department of Justice, joined by Minnesota and New York, this year challenged the proposed merger, alleging that the $13 billion transaction would harm competition in commercial health insurance markets and in the market for a vital technology used to process claims and reduce health care costs

The communications protocol for the Medtronic MiniMed 600 Series Insulin Pump System could allow an unauthorized person to access the pump to deliver too much or too little insulin, the Food and Drug Administration alerted users today.

The AHA and American Medical Association today moved to dismiss their challenge to the federal government’s September 2021 interim final rule governing the No Surprises Act’s independent dispute resolution process. 

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center (HC3) yesterday alerted the sector to a monkeypox-themed phishing campaign targeting health care providers.

The Department of Health and Human Services Friday released a roadmap for better integrating mental health and substance use care into health care, social service and early childhood systems.

An estimated 84% of pregnancy-related deaths in 36 states between 2017 and 2019 were preventable, according to a new CDC report based on data from interdisciplinary committees that review deaths during and up to one year after pregnancy. 

AHA will co-host a Sept. 27 Facebook Live event with AdventHealth on the importance of getting children vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19, which will also cover the new bivalent booster shots.

When you talk with hospital and health system leaders about their biggest challenges and opportunities, one theme continues to be at the top of their list — workforce.