News

In an op-ed published at MedPage Today, 2021 AHA Board Chair Rod Hochman, M.D., urges action to address the nation’s growing shortage of health care workers, from enacting the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act to lifting the cap on Medicare-funded physician residencies.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a bulletin reminding debt collectors and credit bureaus of their legal obligations in light of the No Surprises Act, which protects consumers from certain unexpected medical bills. 

As urged by the AHA, the Department of Health and Human Services today renewed the COVID-19 public health emergency declaration for another 90 days effective Jan. 16. The extension will help hospitals and health systems combat COVID-19 in their communities. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released updated interpretive guidance on its Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination Interim Final Rule for states affected by yesterday’s Supreme Court’s decision  on the rule.

Record-high COVID-19 hospitalizations and cases. Unprecedented workforce shortages. Persistent supply chain challenges. 

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission recommended that Congress provide a current law update for the hospital inpatient and outpatient prospective payment systems in fiscal year 2023, currently estimated at 2.5% for inpatient and 2.0% for outpatient.

The U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services vaccine mandate to go into effect nationwide while blocking the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s vaccine requirements from taking effect. The Court ruled 5-4 in allowing the CMS vaccine mandate to go into effect and 6-3 in blocking the OSHA mandates. 

In this first episode of a two-part series hosted by AHA’s Living Learning Network, leaders from the AHA and the Center to Advance Palliative Care discuss palliative care strategies, challenges and lessons learned throughout the pandemic.

Leaders from the AHA and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, hospital leaders, clinicians and experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Jan. 26 will hold a webinar on how health care professionals can work with their patients and communities to build trust in the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines for pregnant people.

A new AHA video is tackling prominent myths about COVID-19 and its vaccines, providing the public with the facts they need to make sound health decisions for themselves and their families.

In addition to the seven new 2022 ICD-10 procedure codes announced in November, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on April 1 will implement two new ICD-10 procedure codes for reporting COVID-19 therapeutics

The AHA released a new issue of the COVID-19 Snapshot underscoring the persisting challenges facing hospitals and health systems during the ongoing public health emergency.

President Biden announced he will deploy over 120 military medical personnel to hospitals in six states hit hard by the new COVID-19 variant: Michigan, New Mexico, New York, New Jersey, Ohio and Rhode Island.

Reps. Tom Cole, R-Okla., Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., and Dina Titus, D-Nev., and Sens. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., and Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., today introduced the Medical Student Education Authorization Act, AHA-supported legislation that would provide grants to public institutions of higher education to expand or support graduate education for physicians.

AHA is among the investors and partners taking part in a first-of-its-kind movement to promote equity in access to capital for investments in Black-founded and -led companies at the forefront of health care innovation. 

The American Organization for Nursing Leadership announced its 2022 Class of Fellows.

A new Commonwealth Fund report released is shedding light on how insurance costs of working Americans in every state are consuming a greater share of incomes than they did a decade ago.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services yesterday proposed that Medicare cover monoclonal antibodies that target amyloid to treat Alzheimer’s disease for beneficiaries enrolled in qualifying clinical trials.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, FBI and National Security Agency released recommendations to help health care and other critical infrastructure organizations prevent, detect and respond to common Russian state-sponsored cyber threats. 

The Food and Drug Administration has revised its provider and recipient fact sheets for the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine due to reports of immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), a disorder that can cause easy or excessive bruising and bleeding due to very low platelet levels.