Articles
COVID-19: Caring for Patients and Communities, Financial Management, Setting the Record Straight
Recent Study on Pandemic Funding Narrow and Incomplete
America’s hospitals and health systems, regardless of size, location and ownership type, provided essential care to their patients and communities during the pandemic. Congress recognized the critical role hospitals play as the backbone of our health care system and swiftly took steps in the early days of the pandemic to provide support to ensure hospitals would remain resilient.
Setting the Record Straight, Price Transparency, Financial Management
Blog: Irresponsible rhetoric should not drive public policy
The AHA has previously noted the third party observers who demonstrate a tenuous grasp of the data and rules regarding federal hospital transparency requirements.
Price Transparency, Cost Management, Setting the Record Straight
New CMS Report Shows Hospitals and Health Systems Are Working to Implement Price Transparency Policies and Help Patients Understand Costs
By Molly Smith - Group Vice President for Public Policy, American Hospital Association, Aaron Wesolowski - AHA Vice President of Policy, Research, Analytics and Strategy, Terrence Cunningham
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released the results of its assessment of hospital compliance. Importantly, CMS is the official arbiter of compliance with the transparency rules.
Cost Management
Blog: RAND 4.0 Still Riddled with Methodology Flaws and Incomplete Data
By Aaron Wesolowski - AHA Vice President of Policy, Research, Analytics and Strategy, Benjamin Finder
The RAND Corporation’s latest hospital price report is, unfortunately, more of the same.
Advocacy & Public Policy, Drug Prices
Blog: Analysis on Drug Prices Fails to Provide Full Context
The authors of a recent analysis published in JAMA themselves acknowledge that their sample size is very small, making it hard to draw any sweeping conclusions based on their data. In addition, the study does not provide direct insight as to what hospitals actually pay to acquire these drugs.
Medicaid DSH
Brookings paper misses the point on Medicaid DSH cuts included in BBBA
A white paper from the USC-Brookings Schaeffer Initiative for Health Policy on a provision in the draft Build Back Better Act (BBBA) takes serious shortcuts and overlooks how certain provisions fit into a broader, much more complex set of payment policies.
Billing & Collections, Price Transparency
UnitedHealth Group Using Researchers to Advance Self-Serving Agenda
Last week a series of emails that became public revealed communication between executives at UnitedHealth Group and researchers studying the frequency of surprise medical billing.
Post-Acute Care, Long-term Care
Study Downplays Vital Role of Long-term Care Hospitals in Patient Care
Long-term care hospitals, or LTCHs, and the other three post-acute care settings have been central to our recovery from COVID-19. The pandemic has particularly highlighted the distinct clinical competencies of LTCHs.
Advocacy & Public Policy, Issues & Trends, Tax-exempt Status
Recent Reports on Price Variation and Growth Mislead
In two recent reports, the Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI) appears to use oversimplified analytic approach and draws overly broad conclusions about price variation and price growth variation. Their analysis does not address many of the key factors that can contribute to price variation and growth, while also ignoring broader trends in the health care market.
Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19), COVID-19: Coverage and Reimbursement
Recent Media Report Distorts Dire Financial Situation Facing Hospital Field
A recent article from Axios attempts to say that the hospital and health system field is not being negatively impacted financially by the pandemic. The article ignores the diverse experiences of hospitals during the pandemic, particularly those that are under significant financial pressure.