News

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission Jan. 11 voted to recommend that Congress update Medicare payment rates for hospital inpatient and outpatient services by the current law amount plus 1.5% for 2025, and reiterated its recommendation to distribute an additional $4 billion to safety-net hospitals by transitioning to a Medicare safety-net index policy.

Medicare paid hospitals a record low 82 cents for every dollar they spent caring for Medicare patients in 2022, according to a new AHA infographic.

The AHA Jan. 10 urged House and Senate leaders to eliminate Medicaid disproportionate share hospital reductions for two years and reject policies to expand site-neutral payment cuts or add regulatory burdens on hospitals and health systems as part of any government funding package.

Chris DeRienzo, M.D., AHA’s senior vice president and chief physician executive, explores how today’s physician leaders reconcile the demands of two different jobs to support both the patient and their organization's long-term goals.

Nearly 20.4 million people selected a 2024 health plan through the federally facilitated and state-based Health Insurance Marketplaces between Nov. 1 and Dec. 23, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reported Jan. 10.

The American Red Cross this week announced an emergency blood shortage, urging Americans to donate blood or platelets to alleviate the shortage and ensure lifesaving medical procedures proceed without delay.

The Federal Communications Commission Jan. 10 released a final rule updating the Rural Health Care program, which offers discounted rates for rural broadband and other communications services to support virtual health care services.

AHA Jan. 9 filed a friend-of-the-court brief in an antitrust lawsuit filed by AdventHealth last year that alleges insurer MultiPlan conspires with other commercial health insurers that use its repricing tool to reduce what they pay health care providers for out-of-network services.

Eligible hospitals can apply through March 31 for a share of the 200 additional Medicare-funded residency slots available for fiscal year 2025.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights Jan. 9 released a final rule that partially rescinds a sweeping 2019 rule that was held unlawful by three federal district courts.

In updated guidance for makers of medical devices labeled as sterile, the Food and Drug Administration Jan. 8 listed vaporized hydrogen peroxide as an established sterilization method for medical devices.

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra Jan. 8 appointed as chief competition officer Stacy Sanders, who currently oversees the department's implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act, long-term care initiatives, policies to promote health care competition and other Medicare work.compe

Commenting Jan. 8 on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ proposed standards for qualified health plans offered through the health insurance marketplaces for 2025, AHA said it supports the agency’s efforts to strengthen network adequacy standards, standardize and streamline marketplace operations, ease the enrollment process and improve access to certain health care services. 

As the first of two deadlines to fund the federal government approaches Jan. 19, the Coalition to Protect America’s Health Care yesterday launched a television ad on network and cable news shows urging Congress to reject Medicare cuts to hospitals and health systems already pushed to the brink by broken supply chains, workforce shortages and high inflation.

Joanne Conroy, M.D., is CEO and president of Dartmouth Health, which is the only academic health system in New Hampshire and serves rural and urban residents in both New Hampshire and Vermont.

Learn about UnitedHealthcare's clarification on the hospital services review process for Medicare Advantage plans. Stay up-to-date.

At least 91% of hospitals had posted a machine-readable file containing rate information by the end of 2023, according to a new analysis by Turquoise Health.

In this podcast sponsored by Valor Performance, experts from Kaiser Permanente and Mass General Brigham share innovative workforce approaches to help clinicians thrive professionally and personally.

In separate calls Jan. 4 with subscribers, Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings both maintained a gloomy outlook for the not-for-profit hospital sector in 2024.

The AHA Jan. 5 filed its opening brief in its lawsuit challenging a December 2022 rule issued by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights that restricts the use of standard third-party web technologies that capture IP addresses on portions of hospitals’ public-facing webpages.