News

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services late this afternoon released a proposed rule that would make programmatic and operational changes to the Medicare Advantage and prescription drug benefit programs for contract year 2020.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today updated the window-shopping feature at HealthCare.gov to allow consumers to preview 2019 health plans and prices before open enrollment begins Nov. 1.

Premiums for 2019 qualified health plans in the individual health insurance market are about 6 percent higher than they would be without the effective repeal of the individual mandate penalty and the expansion of short-term and association health plans,

Hospitals that left the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement program this year treated more medically complex and Medicaid patients and had lower joint-replacement volumes, according to a study published online this week in JAMA Internal Medicine.

An estimated 37.1 percent of U.S. adults received a flu vaccine during the 2017-18 flu season, down from 43.3 percent during the prior flu season.

Open enrollment on the marketplaces begins on Nov. 1 for 2019 coverage and runs through Dec. 15, and America’s hospitals and health systems have a vital role to play in connecting consumers with health coverage.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking seeking comments through Dec. 31 on potential options the agency may consider for testing changes to payment for certain separately payable Part B drugs and biologicals.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights today announced guidance and a public education campaign highlighting how federal nondiscrimination laws apply to opioid use disorder treatment and recovery services.

Medicaid enrollment declined an average 0.6 percent in fiscal year 2018, largely due to a strengthening economy.

The Office of the Surgeon General, with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, plans to produce a report on how private-sector investments in community health can improve the health and prosperity of communities.

The Texas A&M University Rural and Community Health Institute recently received a grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration to create a technical advisory center for vulnerable rural hospitals.

AHA and member hospitals yesterday told a federal court that court-ordered targets for reducing the backlog of Medicare appeals at the Administrative Law Judge level remain crucial for ensuring a maintenance of effort by the Department of Health and Human Services.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today added to Nursing Home Compare 2017 data for five measures from the Medicare Skilled Nursing Facility Quality Reporting Program

AHA this week shared with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and the Federal Trade Commission additional perspective on a recent Wall Street Journal article suggesting hospitals were at the root of contract terms that could disadvantage consumers.

About 34 percent of health care payments in 2017 were tied to alternative payment models, up from 29 percent in 2016.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response will host a Nov. 14 webinar on hospital-based incident command systems.

The departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury today proposed new rules related to how employers may use health reimbursement arrangements to provide health coverage to employees.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will launch a Medicaid payment model next fall that aims to improve care and reduce expenditures for pregnant and postpartum women with opioid use disorders.

Between 700,000 and 1.7 million children in need of medical attention would likely leave the Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program under a Department of Homeland Security proposed rule because they live with at least one noncitizen adult.

The AHA’s American Society for Health Care Engineering has released a playbook to help health care facilities c