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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services April 19 approved an amendment to a Massachusetts Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program demonstration to add health-related social needs services; expand Marketplace subsidies and cost-sharing assistance; provide pre-release services to eligible incarcerated beneficiaries; and expand continuous eligibility to 24 months for older adults experiencing homelessness and 12 months for other adults.

In clinical trials involving 220,000 patients at 59 HCA Healthcare hospitals, algorithm-driven computerized alerts helped clinicians better identify the appropriate antibiotic for 28% of patients with pneumonia and 17% of patients with urinary tract infections, according to studies funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published April 19 in JAMA.

At its Annual Membership Meeting this week in Washington, D.C., AHA presented two federal hospital leaders with 2023 awards recognizing their outstanding service to the health care field.

“Imagine if the government required health insurance and drug companies to account for every dollar they spent, audit those data, and publicly report those numbers,” write AHA’s Bharath Krishnamurthy, director of health analytics and policy, and Aaron Wesolowski, vice president of research strategy and policy communications.

In a statement submitted to the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee for a hearing April 17 on President Biden’s fiscal year 2025 Health and Human Services’ budget request, AHA expressed concern about proposed new penalties for hospitals and health systems that do not meet what the Administration defines as essential cybersecurity practices.

Challenging prior authorization policy requirements were addressed in an AHA Annual Membership Meeting panel discussion moderated by Marilyn Werber Serafini, executive director for the Health Program at the Bipartisan Policy Center.

It's always important to bring the issue back to the patient, said Sarah Lechner, senior vice president and chief of external affairs for Hackensack Meridian Health, during a Q&A about building relationships with elected officials when advocating for hospitals and health systems at AHA's 2024 Annual Meeting April 14-16.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Mandy Cohen, M.D., April 16 shared with attendees of AHA’s 2024 Annual Membership Meeting how her team is preparing the nation for the next public health emergency, highlighting how hospitals’ ability to provide the CDC with timely data is already positioning the nation for future success.

Department of Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary Andrea Palm addressed AHA Annual Membership Meeting attendees about the Administration’s work to improve access to care and increase the number of people with health insurance, as well as the Change Healthcare cyberattack and what cybersecurity looks like in the future.

Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., addressed attendees of AHA’s 2024 Annual Membership Meeting and touched on many of the biggest issues in health care: cybersecurity; prior authorization and denials of care; extensions for expiring telehealth provisions; and how government and hospitals can work together to find solutions to these and other problems.

Three retiring members of Congress — Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, Larry Bucshon, R-Ind., and Dan Kildee, D-Mich. — engaged in a genial conversation that covered the current state of Congress, as well as what they view as the major issues and possible solutions facing health care.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., April 16 updated AHA members on progress to extend telehealth waivers, offering hope that a solution will arise in end-of-year legislation that Congress will attempt to pass.

As hospital leaders prepared to meet with their lawmakers on April 16 following the conclusion of the AHA's 2024 Annual Meeting, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., urged hospitals to speak up about the challenges and realities they face, particularly as they contend with crippling workforce shortages nationwide.

The Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines can cause myocarditis, according to a new National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report examining whether COVID-19 vaccines can cause certain harms.

The White House April 16 released a strategy to guide the federal government in protecting the nation from infectious disease threats by working with other nations and stakeholders.

In a statement submitted April 16 to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions for a hearing on ways to strengthen the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, AHA urged Congress to prevent commercial insurer practices that harm patients and small providers.

Testifying April 16 before a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health hearing on addressing health care cybersecurity vulnerabilities in the wake of the Change Healthcare attack, AHA shared proposals and concerns for Congress and the Administration to consider.

Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., touted the benefits of telehealth April 15, saying it is uncovering hidden health care savings by encouraging patients to seek more timely care.

During a Q&A with AHA Immediate Past Board Chair John Haupert at the AHA Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., Sanjay Gupta, M.D., chief medical correspondent for CNN, author and neurosurgeon, highlighted the need to learn more about brain health and how it can be measured.

During its Annual Membership Meeting April 14 in Washington, D.C., the AHA honored 2024 Board Chair Joanne Conroy, M.D., president and CEO of Dartmouth Health.