News

The departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury today released a request for information on the potential benefits and costs of requiring non-grandfathered health plans to cover over-the-counter preventive items and services without cost sharing and without a prescription.

The Food and Drug Administration Sept. 29 released a proposed rule that would phase out over four years its general enforcement discretion approach for most laboratory developed tests, citing concern that some of the tests may not provide accurate results or perform as well as FDA-approved in vitro diagnostic products.

The FBI this week advised organizations to protect against certain emerging ransomware trends, including multiple attacks on the same victim and new data destruction tactics.

The House Sept. 29 voted 198-232 to defeat a continuing resolution (H.R. 5525) that would have funded the federal government through Oct. 31 but would have reduced discretionary spending for most domestic programs by nearly 30%.

As we move into fall and winter, we know the viruses that cause respiratory disease will usually circulate more heavily in communities.

In these video snippets from an AHA Advancing Health podcast series, health care leaders and clinicians from four children's hospitals share how they worked to foster COVID-19 vaccine confidence in their communities.

The AHA and its Physician Alliance offer a guide to help hospital and health system leaders prioritize and support a robust succession planning program for their organization, based on challenges and opportunities identified by their peers.

The AHA’s American Society for Health Care Engineering has launched a team training and consultation program that can help hospitals and health systems identify opportunities to become more environmentally sustainable while saving an average $900,000 a year.

The AHA Sept. 27 released a Suicide Prevention Guide in Action webpage, featuring successful strategies from hospitals and health systems that participated in its recent suicide prevention learning collaborative with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Cyber actors linked to the People’s Republic of China are targeting router firmware in government and multinational organizations, which should review all subsidiary connections and consider implementing Zero Trust models to limit a potential compromise, U.S. and Japanese agencies advised Sept. 27. 

The U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Louisiana Sept. 27 ruled in favor of a LCMC Health and Tulane University partnership, concluding that the Certificate of Public Advantage granted by Louisiana exempts the transaction from federal antitrust laws.

Congress should urge the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Right to immediately withdraw its new rule regarding so-called “online tracking technologies” and enact full federal preemption to the HIPAA privacy framework, AHA told Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee Ranking Member Bill Cassidy, R-La., responding to his recent request for stakeholder input on health data privacy.   

A new infographic spotlights how the AHA’s suicide prevention learning collaborative, a partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, helped 37 organizations advance suicide prevention and well-being for their health care workers.

The director and nurse manager for pediatric emergency mental health services at UMass Memorial Health in Massachusetts share how the health system is helping kids receive treatment that fits their needs.

“Emerging research has confirmed what hospitals and health systems have been saying again and again and again — that 2022 was among the most financially challenging year the hospital field has experienced, and that recovery remains challenging,” writes AHA’s director of policy research and analysis.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Sept. 26 released premium and cost-sharing information for Medicare Advantage and Part D prescription drug plans for the 2024 calendar year. 

The Senate Sept. 26 voted 77-19 to begin debate on a continuing resolution that would continue funding for government programs through Nov. 17. The Senate is expected to vote on the measure this week.

The board of directors for the International Code Council has named Jonathan Flannery, senior associate director of advocacy for AHA’s American Society for Health Care Engineering, to a three-year term on the code development committee for the International Fire Code effective in January.

A recent paper funded by the National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation adds to the growing list of insurer-backed, bias-riddled research aimed at diverting attention away from that industry’s troubling practices, writes AHA General Counsel and Secretary Melinda Hatton

The Food and Drug Administration Sept. 26 finalized guidance updating the cybersecurity information device makers should submit to its Center for Devices and Radiological Health or Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research for premarket review of devices that have cybersecurity considerations.