Rick Pollack, President and CEO, AHA

Hospitals are places of healing, health and hope. They strive to create safe spaces for the patients and communities they serve and the dedicated team members who work there each and every day.
With only 11 days that the House and Senate are in session together before the fiscal year concludes, much of the attention in Washington is on how Congress will fund the government and whether there will be a government shutdown.
Fair competition has always been the driving principle of our nation’s economy. This includes health care, and it’s the reason the Ethics in Patient Referrals Act, more commonly known as the “Stark Law,” has been on the books for decades to protect the Medicare program from the inherent conflict of interest created when physicians self-refer their patients to facilities and services in which they have a financial stake.
For years, many commercial health insurers treated coverage for mental health or substance use disorders (SUD) very differently than for medical and surgical benefits.
Legislators need to be aware of the work that hospitals and health systems do now more than ever because the House and Senate are considering so-called site-neutral legislation that would further reduce Medicare funding for patient services provided by hospitals.
In recent years, the dedication to innovation has been fueled in part by advancements in technology. Patients right now — and in the future — can expect more care delivery that is driven by 3D modeling; predictive analytics; advanced robotics for surgeries and treatments; and personalized therapies based on genomics.
After more than five years of litigation and a unanimous Supreme Court victory, the AHA is extremely pleased that 340B hospitals will finally be paid back what they deserve so they can continue providing care to their patients and communities. We are especially gratified that HHS agreed with the AHA’s position that these hospitals must be promptly repaid in full with a single lump-sum.
Congress is considering several pieces of legislation that would impose billions of dollars in additional Medicare payment cuts for services provided by hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs).
The late American economist and author Peter Drucker observed that "management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things."
That’s never been truer than in health care right now. Every day leaders face many serious challenges at once and make difficult decisions that will impact their organizations, patients and communities.
On Tuesday, we will celebrate the 247th birthday of the United States. Many people will do so with picnics, barbeques, fireworks and other hallmarks of our Fourth of July celebrations.