News

As Virginia leaders work to find a state budget compromise that includes a health care coverage access plan, the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association and 30 other organizations representing health care providers yesterday issued a joint statement encouraging and supporting expanded access to health coverage for uninsured residents.

The theme for this year’s National Minority Health Month, “Partnering for Health Equity,” couldn’t be timelier.

The Senate Finance Committee today held a hearing on “tackling opioid and substance use disorders in Medicare, Medicaid and human services programs.”

The number of U.S. retail opioid prescriptions fell by 10.2% in 2017, including a 16.1% decline in high-dose prescriptions, according to a report released today by the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science.

The Department of Health and Human Services yesterday awarded $485 million in grants to help states and territories combat the opioid crisis, the last of two funding rounds provided for in the 21st Century Cures Act.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar yesterday named Indiana insurance executive James Parker to direct the HHS Office of Health Reform and lead the department’s initiative to make health insurance more affordable and available.

Health care providers should not use endoscope connectors labeled for use without reprocessing between patients because they carry a risk of cross-contamination, the Food and Drug Administration announced today.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) today introduced the Comprehensive Addiction Resources Emergency Act, legislation that would provide $100 billion in federal funding over 10 years to help states and communities address the opioid crisis.

Sixteen U.S. senators today urged the Department of Health and Human Services to take immediate action to reduce the price of naloxone – a drug that can be delivered via nasal mist or injection to temporarily suspend the effects of an overdose until emergency responders arrive.

The Food and Drug Administration yesterday announced a firmware update to reduce the risk of rapid battery depletion and address cybersecurity vulnerabilities in certain Abbott devices that provide pacing for slow heart rhythms and electrical shock or pacing to stop dangerously fast heart rhythms.

Clinicians participating in the Merit-based Incentive Payment System may apply through April 30 to participate in a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services study on the burdens associated with reporting MIPS quality measures in 2018.

The AHA's Health Research & Educational Trust and Institute for Diversity and Health Equity have launched the 2018 Population Health, Equity and Diversity Survey.

Leaders of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee today introduced bipartisan legislation to address the opioid crisis, which the committee will mark up on April 24.

The Food and Drug Administration today released a plan to improve medical device safety.

The American Society of Addiction Medicine and the American Medical Association yesterday released an issue brief on an alternative payment model for medication-assisted therapy, and seek physician practices and insurers interested in pilot testing the model for patients with opioid use disorder.

Current state proposals to require certain Medicaid beneficiaries to participate in work, training or other “community engagement” activity to remain eligible for coverage could affect more than 1.7 million enrollees and nearly $8 billion in program expenditures.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services plans to continue periodic post-payment reviews and provider education to ensure Medicare claims for telehealth services meet program requirements, and to ensure Medicare contractors implement all planned claims edits.

AHA Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer Jay Bhatt, D.O., yesterday participated in a panel on building a sustainable healthy community as part of the National Minority Quality Forum’s annual conference on health disparities.

The Drug Enforcement Administration continues to adjust manufacturers’ quotas for injectable opioid pain medications.

Coastal Meds LLC, which compounds drugs as an outsourcing facility, has voluntarily recalled all of its products marketed as sterile due to visible particles in some of the drug vials for injection.