News

UnitedHealth Group will accelerate nearly $2 billion in claims payments to U.S. health care providers under its fully insured commercial, Medicare Advantage and Medicaid businesses to address short-term financial pressure caused by the COVID-19 emergency, UnitedHealthcare and Optum announced.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services delivered close to $34 billion in Medicare accelerated and advance payments to Part A providers, including hospitals, and Part B suppliers to combat resource challenges related to COVID-19, the agency said.

The Creative Coalition, Association for Healthcare Philanthropy, and the AHA launched the “Protect the Heroes” campaign, which allows the general public to make direct impact donations to America’s hospitals and health systems.

The Food and Drug Administration recently issued an enforcement policy allowing certain modifications to expand the availability of devices used in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation therapy during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

To help health care professionals understand the potential risks and benefits of N95 respirator reuse or extended use during the COVID-19 emergency, ECRI updated its clinical evidence assessment on these practices.

AHA General Counsel Melinda Hatton and Jones Day lawyers Cathy Livingston and Robin Overby hosted a webinar on the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program.

The Drug Enforcement Agency said it is increasing annual caps for controlled substances whose supplies are in high demand due the COVID-19 crisis.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General says it will seek to ensure health care providers retain regulatory flexibility during the COVID-19 crisis.

The Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights April 3 warned HIPAA-covered entities of an individual posing as an OCR investigator attempting to obtain patients’ protected health information.

The federal government will use a portion of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act’s $100 billion emergency fund for hospitals and health care providers to reimburse providers treating uninsured COVID-19 patients, President Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced.

The AHA urged CMS to use its authority to extend to LTCHs the 20% hospital add-on payment for Medicare beneficiaries diagnosed with COVID-19, which was authorized by the CARES Act.

The AHA urged HHS and CMS to consider taking additional actions that would expand the ability of hospitals and health systems to use telehealth in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The AHA urged the HHS Secretary to consider additional actions to temporarily suspend certain requirements so that health care providers can better respond to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The AHA urged the Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to exercise existing authorities to waive interest or substantially reduce the interest rate on any balance owed on accelerated/advanced payments made under section 3719 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the March 28 expansion announcement by CMS.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General issued a new report highlighting numerous challenges facing hospitals amid the COVID-19 crisis.

Even as the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise, we’re seeing so many examples of exceptional kindness, courage and compassion with which our care providers are meeting the health challenge of a lifetime.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the AHA has been sounding the alarm for policymakers and government leaders to make sure our field gets the tools and resources we need to win this war.

The AHA’s American Society for Health Care Engineering has named Deanna Martin as its new executive director. A certified association executive, Martin has worked with ASHE for nine years, most recently as deputy executive director for operations.

Hospital emergency departments treated 4.3% more nonfatal overdoses in 2017 than in 2016, with the visit rate increasing for all drugs except benzodiazepines, including an increase of 32.9% for cocaine, according to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

President Trump today directed the Health and Human Services Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, to use Defense Production Act authorities to facilitate the supply of materials to produce ventilators.