News

Twelve states filed a federal lawsuit in Louisiana challenging the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ interim final rule requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for workers in most health care settings that participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs, including hospitals and health systems.

To ensure that COVID-19 tests work as intended, the Food and Drug Administration will now enforce premarket review requirements for laboratory developed tests, reversing the prior administration’s policy, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra announced. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will implement three new ICD-10 diagnosis codes for reporting COVID-19 vaccination status effective April 1, 2022.

Pfizer announced its formal request that the Food and Drug Administration authorize the emergency use of its PAXLOVID (PF-07321332; ritonavir) oral antiviral for combatting SARS-CoV-2.

The AHA urged the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights to quickly initiate rulemaking for a legislative provision (H.R. 7898) enacted by Congress this year to recognize certain recommended security practices when making determinations related to Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act audits, fines and resolution agreements.

The AHA urged the Senate Finance Committee to address the nation’s myriad behavioral health needs by: strengthening the workforce; reforming discriminatory Medicare and Medicaid laws; increasing integration, coordination and access to care; ensuring parity; expanding telehealth; and improving care for children and adolescents.

Sens. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Reps. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., and David McKinley, R- W.Va., urged the White House to enlist federal agencies to investigate price gouging by nurse staffing agencies. 

The AHA and Federation of American Hospitals this week are running digital ads in Politico urging Congress to “Protect Patients: Don’t cut hospitals serving our most vulnerable.”

Lawmakers and regulators should increase their oversight of commercial health plans and enact fair and patient-friendly reforms, writes AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack in an advertorial published today in the Wall Street Journal. 

The Health Resources and Services Administration in September gave health care providers who received more than $10,000 in Provider Relief Funds between April 30 and June 30, 2020, until Nov. 30, 2021, to comply with the original reporting requirements before recouping the funds or taking other enforcement actions.

What are the Medicare deductible 2022 rates? Find out here, along with updates on premiums and coinsurance amounts.

This Thursday, Nov. 18, is National Rural Health Day. It’s an opportunity to show support for our rural hospitals and health systems, and also raise awareness about their resiliency, resolve, relationships and readiness — this year’s themes for the recognition day.

Community investments help foster the social and physical environments that support communities’ long-term health.

A recent opinion piece in The Hill promoting physician-owned hospitals gives a misleading and incomplete account of these facilities and the reasons for current statutory restrictions on their growth, writes Ashley Thompson, senior vice president for public policy analysis and development at the AHA.

Ellume has expanded its recall of rapid at-home COVID-19 antigen tests to about 2 million tests, the Food and Drug Administration said in an update this week.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health will host a virtual panel discussion Nov. 18 at 2:30 p.m. ET on protecting the mental health of the nation’s health care workforce.

AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack talks with Epstein Becker Green podcast host Edward Kennedy Jr. about how hospitals are working with the Administration and Congress to shape policy around critical issues such as surprise billing, coverage expansion, value-based care and telehealth.

President Biden nominated former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf to resume his leading role at the agency. Califf, a cardiologist, helmed FDA for nearly a year during the Obama administration.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services repealed a final rule codifying how it defines “reasonable and necessary” coverage for items and services furnished under Medicare Parts A and B, as proposed in September. Scheduled to take effect Dec. 15, the rule also provided an expedited Medicare coverage pathway for certain innovative medical devices designated as breakthrough by the Food and Drug Administration, which CMS said may not have provided sufficient safety protections.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released final guidance on hospital co-location with other hospitals or health care facilities.