News

The House Committee on Oversight and Reform today held the third in a series of hearings examining solutions to the opioid epidemic, which focused on the adequacy of the federal response and on legislation to expand access to evidence-based treatment for substance use disorders.

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions today held a hearing on the Lower Health Care Costs Act, its draft legislation to prevent surprise medical bills, reduce prescription drug prices, improve transparency in health care, invest in public health and improve health information exchange.

The Fund for Access to Inpatient Rehabilitation late yesterday announced that the government will settle backlogged Medicare inpatient rehabilitation facility appeals, a central demand in the AHA’s successful litigation to tackle the overall Medicare appeals backlog.

AHA today submitted comments on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ fiscal year 2020 proposed rule for the skilled nursing facility prospective payment system.

AHA said it generally supports the reforms to update the payment system, but expressed concern with the substantial redistribution of cases under the payment model proposed for FY 2020.

The AHA said it is generally supportive of the overall concept of the agreement and agency’s goal to create a voluntary network-of-networks that would enable hospitals to join one network and access all of their trading partners.

The AHA today commended the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for issuing proposed guidance to clarify ligature risk requirements and urged the agency to consider additional clarifying language.

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission Friday issued its June report to Congress, which includes several recommendations approved by the panel during its January and March meetings.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar today announced he will promote Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Judy Stecker to additionally serve as deputy chief of staff for operations and strategy, effective upon her return from maternity leave.

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The AHA commented today on the Stopping the Outrageous Practice of Surprise Medical Bills (S. 1531), legislation developed by the Senate Bipartisan Working Group to address surprise medical bills.

The departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury yesterday finalized a rule that will allow employers to use health reimbursement arrangements to pay a portion of the premiums.

Between 2008 and 2017, the share of adults meeting the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans increased from 19.4% to 25.3% among urban residents and from 13.3% to 19.6% among rural residents.

Surprise billing has no place in health care and America’s hospitals and health systems are committed to protecting patients from this unfair practice.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today activated its Emergency Operations Center to support the interagency response to the Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, following confirmation of three travel-associated cases in Uganda.

The Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights yesterday held a hearing on the competitive implications of vertical mergers in the health care sector.

Nine in 10 voters say access to health care in rural communities is important, and three in five would be more likely to vote for a candidate who prioritized it.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services yesterday approved a Medicaid state plan amendment allowing Washington state to negotiate supplemental rebate agreements with drug makers based on value.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee today held a hearing on its discussion draft of bipartisan legislation to address surprise medical bills.

The House Ways and Means Committee today held a hearing on “Pathways to Universal Health Coverage,” which debated various options to expand access to health coverage, ranging from Medicare for All to improving existing coverage.