Access & Health Coverage
More than 601,000 people selected a health plan through the federally-facilitated Health Insurance Marketplace during the first week of open enrollment, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced today. About three-quarters of the plan selections were by 2017 enrollees who were…
Millions of Americans worry about the high costs of life-saving prescription drugs. That’s why 25 years ago, Congress created the 340B Drug Pricing Program to help hospitals expand access to prescription drugs and support essential services for our most vulnerable patients.
The program constitutes…
The House today voted 242-174 to approve the CHAMPIONING HEALTHY KIDS Act of 2017 (H.R. 3922), legislation that includes a five-year extension of funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program and two years of relief from Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payment cuts.
The AHA today released a guide to help hospital and health system board members and leaders implement an urgent care center strategy to maintain an access point for urgent medical conditions that can be treated on an outpatient basis, without having to maintain emergency medical services or…
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services this week approved a waiver allowing Utah to expand Medicaid services to up to 6,000 low-income adults without children. Adults with incomes up to 5% percent of the federal poverty line who are chronically homeless or suffer from substance use issues…
Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) today unveiled House Republican leaders’ proposal to reform the tax code. Among other changes, the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act would eliminate hospitals’ ability to access low-cost capital financing through tax-exempt private activity bonds. In addition, the…
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) yesterday introduced the Healthcare Market Certainty and Mandate Relief Act of 2017 that would fund cost-sharing reduction payments to health insurers for two years and eliminate temporarily…
In today's rule, CMS finalized a number of policies, including one that will adversely impact patient access to care by reducing Medicare rates for services hospitals provide in new off-campus hospital clinics.
As hospitals continue to seek new ways to improve the health of their communities, it’s more important than ever for them to partner with other organizations. The AHA NOVA Award recognizes those innovative collaborations in which hospitals are engaged to bring better health to the populations they…
CMS’s decision in today’s rule to cut Medicare payments to hospitals for drugs covered under the 340B program will dramatically threaten access to health care for many patients, including uninsured and other vulnerable populations. It is not based on sound policy and punishes hospitals and patients…