Arizona's average C score also highlights shocking racial disparities in preterm birth and infant mortality rates.
According to the 2023 March of Dimes Report Card, Arizona scores a 9.8% preterm birthrate, edging dangerously close to the national...National News
The joint commitment among the five founding members aims to leverage learned lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic response into actionable strategies that will strengthen the partnership between healthcare and public health systems.
In March 2023, the Common Health Coalition (CHC) was formed by AHIP, the American Medical Association...Arizona News
With a 50-year-old legacy which includes decades as Arizona’s only public teaching hospital, a Level 1 trauma center with the ability to treat adults and children, and Arizona’s only nationally verified Burn Center serving the entire Southwestern United States, Valleywise Health intends to enhance its legacy with a state-of-the-art...Arizona News
Ten Arizona Hospitals received the highest letter grade “A” from Leapfrog Group this fall, double the amount from the previous season's spring ratings.
For more than two decades now, the Leapfrog Group efforts have allowed patients to choose the hospitals they feel safe with, overall improving the health care system. They assign...
Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) is investing $47.5 million from ARP Awards to help strengthen HCBS in Arizona.
Starting on December 4, 2023, eligible HCBS providers can apply for up to $1 million for programmatic or infrastructure projects to improve HCBS for round 2 of the ARP Program Awards. All applications...
Federal regulations require marketplaces to provide free and timely language services. However, state-based marketplaces (SBMs) have significant flexibility in how they do so.
Limited English proficiency (LEP) is defined by individuals who speak English less than “very well.” A considerable portion of individuals who speak a...Arizona News
In an effort to protect abused, neglected, and vulnerable ALTCS members, AHCCCS and DES have published two surveys available for ALTCS members and ALTCS members' families through November 17, 2023.
The surveys and evaluations are conducted by the University of Arizona’s Sonoran Center for Excellence in Developmental Disability. All...Arizona News
According to HonorHealth, the previous method to detect pancreatic cancer by imaging and using blood levels of CA 19-9, a cancer antigen, has proved to be inadequate or misleading. The cancer doesn’t always produce detectable amounts of CA 19-9 in the earlier stages, leading to false negatives.
The new biomarker panel detects...Arizona News
AHCCCS released a new Olmstead Plan that outlines priorities within the healthcare delivery system for people at risk of institutionalization, including those with behavioral needs and members enrolled in the Arizona Long Term Care System (ALTCS).
The 1999 United States Supreme Court Olmstead decision provided a legal framework for...Arizona News
The event is designed to help families and providers better understand the impact dementia may have on tribal communities. The conference is scheduled in Tucson from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Oct 19, at Desert Diamond Casinos.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, Native Americans are more likely to develop the disease or other...Arizona News
From January 2022 to January 2023, 4,264 prescription drugs had price increases, of which 46% or 1,982 were increased above the inflation rate, according to ASPE researchers in a recent study.
Drug manufacturers make most of their prescription drug retail price changes in January and July annually and may change the list price at any...
Homelessness rates in Arizona are escalating, with a staggering 35% increase in just five years. The issue is more than just the absence of shelter. It comes with a higher risk of mental and physical illness. During the month of October, the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) and regional stakeholders will also honor Domestic...
Medicare Advantage (MA) plans in collaboration with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) offers comprehensive healthcare services covered by Traditional Medicare (TM) with many now providing robust supplemental benefits. MA continues to grow rapidly and covers half of all eligible Medicare members from diverse...National News
The Medicare Annual Wellness Visit (AWV) came into effect as part of the 2010 Affordable Care Act and includes cognitive impairment detection. In the beginning, initial adoption of AWVs among beneficiaries was low especially among non-white, and rural members.
The law doesn’t provide specific guidelines for assessment of cognitive...Arizona News
Under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) people with Medicare may pay a lower coinsurance for some Part B drugs if the drug’s price increases faster than the rate of inflation.
The IRA, signed by President Biden in 2022, applied to Part D the same year, whereas Part B took effect in 2023. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid...
Between April 2023 and March 2024, eligibility for every AHCCCS member will be redetermined with more than 650,000 expected to lose coverage. Members who are factually or procedurally ineligible will be disenrolled, and those factually ineligible will be referred to the federal Marketplace.
With the “great unwinding” looming over...Arizona News
Although their work typically requires considerable technical and interpersonal skills, they receive wages that are lower than other entry-level jobs such as janitors, retail salespersons, and customer representatives with rarely any benefits.
A new report from the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) highlights the...Arizona News
House Bill 2691 sets up The Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) and Northland Pioneer College to receive $9 million in funds collectively from the American Rescue Plan to combat Arizona's behavioral health workforce shortages.
According to The Arizona Behavioral Health Workforce (AZBH), 40% of Arizonans live in...Arizona News
On August 17, 2023, a cyber security breach at TMG Health put at risk 47,485 Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona patients' personal information, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
On June 21, 2023, Arizona’s largest commercial insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (BCBSAZ) was informed by TMG Health, of...Arizona News
Banner Health and software company, nference, are joining forces to incorporate the latest technology to better capture unstructured data in electronic medical records (EMR) to provide deep insights to advance discovery and development of diagnostics and therapeutics.
Banner Health's new partner uses the Federated Analytics...
