News

Physician-owned hospitals cherry-pick healthy and wealthy patients, provide limited emergency services and increase costs for patients, providers and the federal government, write AHA Executive Vice President Stacey Hughes and Federation of American Hospitals President and CEO Chip Kahn.

On Oct. 31 at 1 p.m. ET, the Food and Drug Administration will host a webinar to review its recent proposed rule for laboratory developed tests, which would amend the agency’s regulations to require most laboratory developed tests to meet the same medical device requirements as other in vitro diagnostic products.

The average annual premium for employer-sponsored family health coverage rose 7% in 2023 to $23,968, including employer and worker contributions, according to the latest annual survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

A new coalition, whose founding members include the AHA, will advocate for “common-sense solutions" to the severe staffing shortage plaguing the nation’s health care system

The American Heart Association has released a free two-hour accredited learning module on maternal cardiovascular risks and disparities to help clinicians address the leading cause of maternal mortality and improve outcomes for pregnant and recently pregnant individuals in their care.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response recently awarded over $500 million to prepare for clinical trial three COVID-19 vaccine candidates that target better or longer-lasting immune response; increase central laboratory capacity for sample testing; and investigate better ways to develop monoclonal antibodies and evaluate and administer vaccines.

Troy Ament, chief information security officer at Fortinet, discusses the need to balance digital innovation in health care with cybercrime defenses.

The Department of Health and Human Services in November will begin transitioning to commercial distribution an estimated 7.9 million treatment courses of the COVID-19 antiviral pill Paxlovid under an agreement with Pfizer announced. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released its star ratings for 2024 Medicare Advantage and prescription drug plans, which are available through the Find Plans tool at Medicare.gov.

Delivering quality health care to all individuals in our communities — and ensuring they can easily access needed health services — is a top priority for hospital and health system leaders and teams.

Meritus Health executive director of behavioral and community health services discusses his organization’s health equity work, which captured a 2023 AHA Carolyn Boone Lewis Equity of Care Award.

The FBI and Department of Homeland Security are actively monitoring the situation in Israel following the recent Hamas terrorist attacks in that country and any implications they pose to the domestic threat environment, the agencies said in an Oct. 10 notice to the private sector. 

AHA applauded the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Treasury on revised requirements in the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act proposed rule which proposes specific provisions to improve oversight and enforcement including an emphasis on network adequacy and prohibition of commercial health plans efforts to restrict mental health or substance use disorder benefits.

Responding to a request for stakeholder input, AHA shared (LINK) with the House Budget Committee Health Care Task Force its recommendations to make health care more affordable without compromising access to high quality care.

AHA urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to rigorously enforce changes that were included in the calendar year 2024 Medicare Advantage final rule to improve how coverage works for enrollees, promote more timely access to care, ensure better alignment and coverage parity between Traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage, and reduce the administrative burden of health plan requirements on health care providers and their patients.  

The Medicare Part A deductible for inpatient hospital services will be $1,632 in calendar year 2024. The annual deductible for Medicare Part B will be $240 in 2024.

All hospitals and health systems provide an oasis of care, compassion and healing to the patients and communities they serve.

AHA is accepting applications through Nov. 13 for its 2024 Dick Davidson NOVA Award, which will recognize up to five member hospitals and health systems for their collaborative efforts to create healthier communities through health care, economic or social initiatives. 

The AHA is accepting proposals through Nov. 22 from senior health care executives, clinicians and experts to present at its 2024 Leadership Summit July 21-23 in San Diego.

Flu-associated medical visits and hospitalizations per 100,000 population in 2022-23 were higher among children under age 5 than for older children, but were higher for older children than for any season since 2016-17, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Oct. 12.