As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people unemployed has skyrocketed to more than 40 million, with April 2020 having the greatest net change in unemployment in the past decade. This has led to a significant increase in people eligible for Medicaid.
Arizona's Medicaid population has recently grown to 2 million and...Arizona News
Arizona continues to see limited space in hospitals and other medical facilities as the coronavirus cases continue to surge for yet another week. As these systems strain under the impact of the pandemic, Mayor Kate Gallego made an erroneous statement to national media overstating exactly how dire the situation in the state is. Meanwhile,...Arizona News
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is proposing a new rule to assist people who require in-home treatment for end-stage renal disease.
The proposed calendar year 2021 End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Prospective Payment System (PPS) rule change would increase payment for home dialysis treatment and include new...Arizona News
Phoenix mayor Kate Gallego said Arizona opened too soon, fueling a boom in new cases among young people. This week, one in four COVID-19 tests returned positive in Arizona - or 25% - the highest in the nation.
According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, as of June 8, there are 108,614 reported cases of COVID-19 in the...Arizona News
The volume of telehealth claim lines increased more than 8,335% in April 2020 compared to April 2019 as the pandemic continues to drive utilization.
Mental health diagnoses drove visits, followed by joint and soft tissue conditions and hypertension, suggesting more privately insured patients turned to telehealth to manage chronic...Arizona News
As the pandemic accelerates and hospitals fill, Arizona became the first state to authorize use of Crisis Standards of Care. In response to the climbing number of confirmed cases, the Governor issued a shutdown order restricted to large gatherings and particular businesses, but has not signaled any interest in executing another...National News
Last week, 18 states, including Arizona, two individuals and the Trump administration’s Department of Justice filed opening briefs for California v. Texas, a case currently before the Supreme Court that debates the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. Nearly 23 million Americans have insurance through the ACA marketplace and...Arizona News
Crisis Response Network announced last week that the new Resilient Arizona Crisis Counseling Program will provide entirely free and confidential support and connections to resources for Arizona residents impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The partnership between the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) and the...Arizona News
Remdesivir is one of the first widely used drugs for COVID-19. It received an emergency use authorization from U.S. regulators in May after a big trial found the medicine sped recovery by about four days in hospitalized patients.
The Department of Health and Human Services announced an agreement to secure large supplies of the...Arizona News
On Monday, an HHS spokesman confirmed that the department will extend the national public health emergency for COVID-19 that would otherwise expire on July 25th. The announcement comes as Arizona activates surge plans but resists enacting a full second shutdown of businesses in the state.
Health and Human Services spokesman...Arizona News
Last Thursday, CMS released the update of COVID-19 data in nursing homes and corrected their numbers for precision. The initial data release was met with concern over a number of misreported numbers for facilities across the country, as well as missing data from some facilities that submitted information close to the...CMS Rules
Those who are older, lower income, minorities and have chronic conditions are at higher risk for COVID-19.
On June 22, CMS released sought-after Medicare data (Jan 1 to May 16) on beneficiaries’ COVID-19 outcomes that found that more than 325,000 beneficiaries were diagnosed with COVID-19 during that time.
Almost 110,000 were...Arizona News
Last week Arizona hit a new high when for the first time, more than 3,000 new COVID-19 cases were reported in one day.
On June 19 the American Hospital Association (AHA) called on The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to extend the public health emergency declaration set to expire on July 25 until testing capacity...Arizona News
President Trump’s visit to Arizona on Tuesday was eclipsed by the continued acceleration of COVID-19 cases in the state. On Wednesday, Arizona ranked in the top five states for new confirmed cases of the coronavirus.
Although mask mandates are being passed in cities across the state, Governor Doug Ducey’s office has not...National News
Centene and the National Minority Quality Forum are joining forces to study how the coronavirus pandemic is impacting communities of color.
The Minority and Rural Health Coronavirus Study will offer free diagnostic and antibody testing in five states through Quest Diagnostics and will track 5,000 racial and ethnic minority...Arizona News
Over the past week, cases of COVID-19 in Arizona have spiked, causing alarm for doctors, legislators and residents. As is the nationwide trend, indigenous and other vulnerable communities are much harder hit than average.
According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, June 16th hit a record number of cases reported....Arizona News
Nursing homes this week experienced a surge of miscommunication during a spike in newly reported cases of COVID-19. Nationally and locally, organizations are trying to grapple with an influx of new information and the ramifications of an old and neglected system.
In the most recent weekly update of CMS data, more nursing homes...Arizona News
Staff and facility changes are announced via letters to the editor and online media briefings. Principle among these changes is the transition of the Sedona free-standing ED to a lower cost level of care. The press release letter of May 22, 2020 notes that the vast majority of care delivered there is non-emergent and many patients are...Arizona News
An investigation by Bloomberg Law this week uncovered that over $36 billion in interest-free loans from Medicare have gone to companies that have settled on cases accusing them of Medicare or Medicaid fraud in the past.
Healthcare providers could apply for these loans during the pandemic for expected cash flow shortages having to...Arizona News
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recommends re-opening facilities to provide non-emergent, non-COVID-19 healthcare.
The Trump administration said Monday that healthcare facilities in states that have seen enough of a decline in COVID-19 cases to reach the Phase II criteria for reopening their economies should begin...
