News

AHA commented May 24 on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' proposed rules for the skilled nursing and inpatient rehabilitation facility prospective payment systems for fiscal year 2025, expressing concerns about CMS' approach to market basket updates for both.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is seeking public comments until July 22 on the information requirements associated with attestation requirements included in the Medicaid managed care access rule.

Adair County Health System in Greenfield, Iowa, an affiliate of MercyOne health system, sustained damage following a tornado May 21. The Iowa Hospital Education and Research Foundation has established a disaster relief fund to assist ACHS employees and other hospital workers who were impacted by the storm.

The Food and Drug Administration May 23 announced that Medline Industries, a firm marketing and distributing Chinese-manufactured plastic syringes within the U.S., initiated a recall to stop using affected products, including unauthorized plastic syringes made in China.

Long before America observed what we now call Memorial Day, original and inventive practitioners such as Clara Barton and Dorothea Dix provided critical medical care to wounded soldiers on the battlefield and in makeshift hospitals.

Robyn Begley, AHA’s chief nursing officer and CEO of the American Organization for Nursing Leadership, plans to retire at the end of this year, the associations announced May 23. 

A blog expanding on AHA's initial response last week to the RAND Corporation's latest hospital pricing report notes, "The AHA has previously highlighted significant flaws with older versions of this report, and this latest iteration not only recycles but doubles down on those serious shortcomings — the health policy equivalent of Groundhog Day," write Aaron Wesolowski, AHA vice president of research strategy and policy communications, and John Allison, AHA senior associate director of health analytics.

The AHA praised Congress May 23 for their support and introduction of the bipartisan Hospital Inpatient Services Modernization Act, which would grant a five-year extension to the hospital-at-home program. 

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions May 23 passed legislation that included proposals on mental health and emergency pediatric services during a markup session.

The AHA May 23 submitted statements for a House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health hearing on challenges for private physician practices, and a House Budget Committee hearing on the budgetary effects of consolidation in health care.

Behavioral health conditions among older populations are often underrecognized, undertreated and stigmatized, according to the World Health Organization.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently announced the approval of Delaware and Tennessee as the first states to provide diapers to children covered by Medicaid.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention May 21 announced recommendations that flu surveillance systems continue operating at enhanced levels during the summer and to increase submissions of positive flu samples to public health laboratories for subtyping, in case human-to-human spread of H5N1 bird flu is detected.

AHA Board Chair-elect Tina Freese Decker, CEO of Michigan-based Corewell Health, May 21 addressed more than 400 hospital and health system leaders and investors at the 2024 Not-for-Profit Health Care Investor Conference in New York City.

The AHA May 22 released a new infographic and blog highlighting how increasing drug prices and shortages are jeopardizing patient access to hospital care and exacerbating challenges hospitals are experiencing.

The application deadline is May 22 for AHA's 2025 Foster G. McGaw Prize. The annual award celebrates organizations that improve health through community investments and co-designed tactics and programs.

The AHA, together with behavioral health and language experts from member hospitals and partner organizations, has created a continuing series of “People Matter, Words Matter” posters to help health care workers and others adopt person-first, respectful language that aims to reduce stigma.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services May 21 announced that individuals now have the option to file an Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act complaint directly with the agency, in addition to the traditional process of contacting state survey agencies.

AHA is now accepting applications through Aug. 31 for the 2024 Rural Hospital Leadership Team Award, which honors a team that has displayed outstanding leadership and responsiveness to their community’s health needs and demonstrated a collaborative community process that led to measurable outcomes.

The Department of Health and Human Services' Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health May 20 announced the launch of a $50 million cybersecurity program that would create tools for information technology teams in health care to enhance cybersecurity measures.