A new report shows that most hospitals are failing to meet the requirements of the Hospital Price Transparency Rule.
Only 36% of the 2,000 hospitals reviewed by PatientRightsAdvocate.org (PRA) were in full compliance with the rule. The report is the fifth Semi-Annual Hospital Price Transparency Compliance Report issued by the PRA....CMS Rules
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS published its proposed physician fee schedule (PFS), which add up to a 1.25% decrease in pay for Medicare physicians for 2024. Physician groups and industry leaders met the news with frustration, with some doubling down on calls to reform the entire payment formula. CMS also posted the...National News
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced they would pay the 1,600 hospitals that participate in the 340B drug discount program a total of $9 billion in lump sum payments in response to the Supreme Court decision that found the program underpaid for prescription drugs. But the Medicare program also announced that it...
According to a new survey by the American Hospital Association (AHA), the majority of patients blame health insurance companies for barriers to healthcare.
Over 60% of patients reported that they or someone in their household had experienced a barrier to care due to their insurer and 43% of those patients reported worse health...
The report from the American Hospital Association (AHA) found from 2019 to 2022 overall hospital expenses increased by 17.5% and budgets for total contract labor expenses shot up 258% leaving facilities and systems facing extraordinary financial pressures.
From the April AHA report:
A confluence of several factors from historic...National News
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published the FY 2024 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long-term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System (LTCH PPS) rule updates. The rule includes a 2.8% raise in operating payments for acute care hospitals.
The proposed rule updates Medicare payments and policies...National News
According to the American Hospital Association (AHA), patients requiring additional care after a hospitalization — such as skilled nursing, behavioral health or therapy-at-home — face growing delays in accessing that care.
The issue brief revealed data from Strata Decision Technology, a healthcare technology and consulting firm,...
The American Hospital Association (AHA) ran a survey of 300 hospitals and health systems to determine the overall impact of cuts made to the 340B prescription drug pricing program. It found an enormous financial impact on struggling hospitals, specifically those in rural and underserved areas.
The 340B drug pricing program requires...
The Texas Medical Association (TMA) will now lead the charge against the federal government's rules for implementing the No Surprises Act, which aims to curb surprise bills levied on patients who unknowingly or in times of emergency receive care from providers who are out-of-network for their insurance coverage.
Last week, the...
Rural hospitals and health systems have an outsized impact on the health and economic well-being of rural communities supporting one in every 12 rural jobs in America. A September report from the American Hospital Association poses solutions to preserve care in local communities.
The report considers the vital role of rural hospitals,...Arizona News
Protecting health care workers from harassment was the headline concern at a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) last Thursday. The event, "The Targeting of Scientists and Public Health Professionals," was the first in a planned series that will address increases in harassment and violence toward public...
The data usually is released in April but was delayed due to a calculation error. Updated July 27, 2022, the Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating summarizes 47 quality measures across five categories to create a single, star rating for hospitals across the nation. Most Arizona hospitals, like the majority in the United States, earned...
On Friday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published the proposed rules for the CY 2023 Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) and Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) Payment System. Most notably, the CMS proposed increase for OPPS rates for hospitals and ASCs that meet quality reporting...
In 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reevaluated and revised the Hospital Overall Star Ratings methodology to streamline the ratings process and improve equitable ratings throughout a highly-varied industry. The American Hospital Association (AHA) reviewed the changes and found that they provide some stability...
The fight between providers and Medicare Advantage (MA) plans over prior authorization is heating up as the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Hospital Association (AHA) continue their appeals to government agencies to take action against plans.
Last Friday, the American Hospital Association asked the Centers for...
The study also found that prices for COVID-19 hospitalization were similar to prices for overall inpatient admissions and averaged 241 percent of what was paid for Medicare patients.
The RAND study includes associated spending from 4,000 hospitals in 49 states from 2018 to 2020. Glenn Melnick a health economist and policy professor at...
On Monday, the American Hospital Association (AHA) released a report on the new costs incurred on hospitals and health systems, including the effects of workforce shortages, the COVID-19 pandemic, and economic inflation. The report demonstrates a struggle within the American healthcare system to absorb rising costs, even with the relief...
The American Hospital Association (AHA) announced its Health Equity Roadmap; a guide for hospitals and health systems to best remove structural barriers in health and become more equitable organization.
In its new guide, AHA pitches the new framework as a plan to meet organizations wherever they are in the process of creating a...Government
On Tuesday, March 15, President Joe Biden signed a $1.5 trillion spending bill that included a number of health-related provisions. This includes financial assistance for a biomedical research agency, an extension of Medicare telehealth waivers and funding to address concerns regarding maternal mortality.
Notably, House Speaker...National News
The U.S. Justice Department officially announced a lawsuit to stop UnitedHealth Group’s acquisition of Change Healthcare this week, while companies ranging in size from startups like Sesame to mega-corporations such as Tenet and Cigna continue to seek new ways to utilize software and technology in healthcare – either for profit or...
