This week officials with Northern Arizona Healthcare (NAH) hand-delivered their application for a new hospital and outpatient clinic to the Flagstaff Planning and Development department.
Northern Arizona Healthcare, the area's only Level 1 trauma...
This week Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey vetoed a bill that would have allowed the board that regulates leadership at long-term care facilities to continue. Ducey wants to transfer those responsibilities to the Arizona Department of Health Services instead.
Will Humble, executive director of the Arizona Public Health Association, said,
For...CMS Rules
On Sunday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued two proposed rules for inpatient and long-term care hospitals. The first aims to fund medical residency positions in hospitals in rural and underserved communities in order to address workforce shortages in those areas and would require hospitals to report COVID-19...
President Joe Biden gave a public address to Congress last Wednesday and highlighted a number of items in his healthcare agenda, including the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and drug prices. The Biden administration has also signaled that it intends to begin work on banning menthol cigarettes.
One major highlight of the president's speech...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Farxiga (dapagliflozin) oral tablets to reduce the risk of kidney function decline, kidney failure, cardiovascular death and hospitalization for heart failure in adults with chronic kidney disease (CKD) who are at risk of disease progression.
The efficacy of Farxiga to improve kidney...
In President Biden's American Families Plan, subsidies under the expanded Obamacare have been extended indefinitely. Rebates or another stimulus check from insurance companies can be expected.
Another stimulus check might be coming from health insurers
The Obamacare subsidies were expanded in March when the COVID relief plan...
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services star ratings is one of the go-to measures for evaluating quality in hospitals, but stars are no longer the only gold measure for consumers. Leapfrog also released its hospital ratings this week and there were a few disparities worth noting between the two ratings systems.
But CMS...
As the Affordable Care Act’s Special Enrollment Period (SEP) rolls along, the Biden Administration is continuing its mission to expand ACA plan access and affordability.
Last week, CMS announced a number of 2022 ACA Marketplace Plan changes, according to its press release, “to protect and build on the Affordable Care Act,...
Acting United States Attorney Glenn McCormick announced the settlement May 5 after alleging the Phoenix hospital owned by Dignity Health and the neurosurgical practice, which resides on the hospital campus, allegedly billed Medicare for, "certain doubly and triply concurrent and overlapping surgeries."
According to KJZZ, the...
DispatchHealth, a provider of in-home medical care, announced it has acquired Professional Portable X-Ray (PPX), a mobile imaging provider.
This acquisition will bring imaging into the patient's home when required during a visit. DispatchHealth will continue to build the largest in-home care system by expanding its available service...
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service dropped the latest star ratings for hospitals Wednesday, April 28 with four Arizona hospitals scoring the highest five-star rating and Valleywise Health Medical Center, Maricopa County's safety net hospital, earning just two stars. Santa Cruz Valley Regional Hospital earned just one-star,...
Enhancements to UnitedHealthcare’s integrated approach to medical and specialty benefits may help eligible employers save up to 4% by combining medical benefits with vision, dental and financial protection plans.
UnitedHealthcare has introduced various enhancements to its integrated approach to medical and specialty benefits,...CMS Rules
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule making changes to the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) payment model last week. The final rule extends the payment model for three performance years for participating hospitals and allows for CMS to test modifications to the model.
The final rule...
Special Olympics Arizona is looking for volunteers for their second vaccination event in collaboration with various disability organizations as well as the State Health Department. The event will take place at Ability360 located at 5031 E Washington St, Phoenix, AZ 85034 this Saturday (May 1) and Sunday (May 2).
If interested in...
Governor Doug Ducey signed Senate Bill 1457 into law on Tuesday, criminalizing doctors who perform abortions that are obtained due to genetic abnormalities and codifying life as beginning at the point of conception in Arizona law.
The law carries other provisions relating to abortion as well, banning the purchase of the abortion pill,...
Centene reported underwhelming Q1 numbers and Molina picks up Cigna's Medicaid share of the Texas market. Also, questions about what happened with the Berkshire Hathaway-Amazon insurance venture, Haven? And how will social determinants of health impact commercial health insurance?
Centene
Insurance giant Centene's first quarter profits...
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) launched a social media campaign aimed at boosting Black American enrollment in Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plans this week. Increasing participation in Medicaid is going to be a heavy lift following the harmful policies of the Trump administration and the American Medical...
A new bill in the senate, proposed by Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and other Senate Democrats would allow people under 65 and over 50 to buy into Medicare. WEAU 13 reports that 27% of adults approaching retirement age are not confident that they can afford health insurance, and more than 25% have difficulties navigating insurance...
The Biden administration has been clear since the 2020 presidential campaign that it intends to strengthen the Affordable Care Act. This week, the ACA is under threat by a new type of insurance plan, ACA navigators are getting a much needed boost and Congressional Democrats voice their concerns.
The U.S. Labor Department is appealing...
Researchers with the Morrison Institute for Public Policy at Arizona State University quantified the healthcare costs of women who experience childhood trauma.
The study demonstrated that three or more "adverse childhood experiences" such as drug abuse or domestic violence was associated in $260 million in Medicaid spending, 16% of...Arizona News
A total of 4,926,816 doses of vaccine have been administered to Arizona residents, and 2,926,506 have received at least one dose. This means that 40% of the Arizona population has received at least one dose. Nationwide, 43% of the population has been vaccinated.
This information comes from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention...Arizona News
There were 603 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Arizona today, bringing the state total to 860,772. There were six new COVID-19-related deaths, for a total of 17,282. There are 11% of intensive care unit beds currently in use by COVID-19 patients and 14% of ICU beds remain available.
This information comes from the Arizona Department...
Winners have been unveiled for the 2021 Arizona CIO of the Year ORBIE awards, which honors chief information officers from around the state who have demonstrated excellence in technology leadership. There were 146 total nominations for the awards this year, according to the Phoenix Business Journal.
Deanna Wise of Banner Health...
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced the availability of $1 billion for Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Health Center Program to support major construction and renovation projects across the country. The funding builds on President Biden's commitment to ensuring equity in access to COVID-19...
Poverty and the pandemic are disrupting healthy child development and impeding children's readiness to learn.
This year, economic distress, job losses, illness, and grief have hindered progress and health, namely in schoolchildren. School and community leaders are looking to mitigate these sources of harm with resources,...
Arizona News
