News

The House Appropriations Committee yesterday voted 30-23 to approve with changes legislation that would provide $189.9 billion in base discretionary funding for the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education and related agencies in fiscal year 2020.

An estimated 9.4 percent of U.S. residents, or 30.4 million people, lacked health insurance when surveyed in 2018, according to a report released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Training emergency medical services agencies to implement prehospital guidelines for traumatic brain injury doubled the survival rate for patients with severe head trauma, according to a study reported yesterday in JAMA Surgery.

Since announcing the strategic alliance between the AHA and UnidosUS last year, the organizations with leadership from the Institute for Diversity and Health Equity have developed a number of resources and participated in various activities to advance health equity and eliminate gaps for the Latino community.

The AHA today voiced strong support for the Protecting Local Access to Care for Everyone Act (H.R. 2552).

The House of Representative today passed two AHA-supported bills to promote generic and biosimilar competition in the prescription drug market.

The Senate Finance Committee today held a hearing on clinician payment reform under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 and how it could be further improved.

The White House Office of Management and Budget yesterday published a notice seeking comment on a potential change in the annual inflation factor that the Census Bureau uses to measure poverty.

Delaware hospitals have adopted a common protocol for identifying and assisting human trafficking victims.

Robert Pear, a reporter who covered health care policy and other national issues during 40 years at the New York Times, died Tuesday at age 69 from complications of a stroke.

A federal district court judge yesterday ruled that the Department of Health and Human Services would get "first crack at crafting appropriate remedial measures" to the nearly 30 percent cuts to Medicare payments affecting certain hospitals that participate in the 340B Drug Pricing Program.

An estimated 31 percent of pregnancy-related deaths occur during pregnancy, 36 percent during delivery or the week after, and 33 percent one week to one year after delivery.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee today held part two of a hearing examining how to improve interoperability in health care, define information blocking, and improve patient access to care as part of implementing the 21st Century Cures Act.  

Laws that allow pharmacists to dispense the opioid antidote naloxone without a physician’s prescription are associated with a sharp reduction in fatal opioid-related overdoses.

The AHA today expressed support for bipartisan legislation that would expand access to treatment of mental illnesses and substance use disorders through community-based clinics.  

The AHA supports the administration’s goal of expanding access to coverage and increasing competition between health plans, but does not believe that efforts to facilitate the sale of insurance across state lines “will achieve either of those goals in a meaningful way.”

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy seeks by 2022 to reduce drug overdose deaths and youth illicit drug use by 15 percent and opioid prescription fills by one third, according to goals released Friday for its National Drug Control Strategy.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released a toolkit to help health care providers talk with parents about measles and the measles vaccine, which includes a factsheet, poster and other resources.

Public or non-profit community-based organizations may apply for funding to support innovative research proposals to prevent health care-associated infections or combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

During National Nurses Week, which kicks off today, AHA and its American Organization of Nurse Executives subsidiary celebrate nurses for the invaluable role they play in advancing health in America.