News

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General yesterday proposed excluding from safe harbor protection under the Anti-Kickback Statute rebates paid by prescription drug makers to pharmacy benefit managers, Medicare Part D plans and Medicaid managed care organizations.

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy yesterday released its national drug control strategy, intended to guide federal efforts to reduce the availability and use of illicit drugs and barriers to substance use disorder treatment.

Opioid overdose deaths could reach 81,700 a year by 2025, and 700,400 over a decade, largely due to illicit opioids, according to a study published today in JAMA Network Open.

Hospitals participating in the Inpatient Quality Reporting and/or Promoting Interoperability Programs must submit data for at least four electronic clinical quality measures from any quarter of calendar year 2018 through the QualityNet secure portal by Feb. 28 to receive a full payment update in fiscal year 2020.

Catholic Health Initiatives and Dignity Health have come together as CommonSpirit Health, creating a new nonprofit Catholic health system focused on advancing health for all people and serving communities in 21 states, the organizations announced today.

A federal court should order the Department of Health and Human Services to “make whole” 340B hospitals that received reimbursement reductions resulting from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ 2018 outpatient prospective payment system rule, AHA and other hospital plaintiffs said yesterday in a court-ordered brief. 

The AHA’s goal is to improve the health care of every American, no matter where they live…big city, small town, frontier or somewhere in between.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services yesterday proposed additional changes to Medicare Advantage and Part D payment policies beginning in calendar year 2020.

The Department of Veterans Affairs today published a proposed rule implementing urgent care provisions of the AHA-supported MISSION Act of 2018, which requires the agency to establish a new Veterans Community Care Program by this June.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Emergency Medical Services today released an updated agenda for the nation’s EMS system.

For-profit insurers are more likely than not-for-profit insurers to exercise market power when they have it, according to a new study by Harvard Business School professor Leemore Dafney.

Proposed rules that would make changes to the Stark Law and anti-kickback statute are working their way through the federal review process and could be released this year, Department of Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary Eric Hargan said yesterday at a Brookings Institution event.

About 34 association health plans have launched under a 2018 final rule that made it easier for employers to participate in AHPs, 28 of which are active, according to a new report by AssociationHealthPlans.com.

The Department of Veterans Affairs today announced its proposed access standards for the new Veterans Community Care Program to begin in June under the AHA-supported MISSION Act of 2018

Hospital-acquired conditions declined by 13 percent between 2014 and 2017, preventing an estimated 20,500 deaths and $7.7 billion in health care costs, according to preliminary

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is working on some new valued-based payment models and rural health initiatives, Administrator Seema Verma told participants at a CMS quality conference yesterday.

Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health in Lancaster County, Pa., today received the 2018 Foster G. McGaw Prize for its leadership role in improving care for individuals and families in its community, and will receive $100,000 toward programs that further these goals.

The Senate Finance Committee today held the first in a planned series of bipartisan hearings on high prescription drug prices and potential policy and oversight solutions to lower costs for patients.

The House Ways and Means Committee today held a hearing on protecting Americans with pre-existing conditions.

Hospitals and health systems may apply through Feb. 19 for the 2019 AHA Equity of Care Award, which recognizes organizations participating in the AHA's #123forEquity campaign for extraordinary success in advancing diversity and equity through data collection, leadership, cultural awareness and partnerships.