Under the American Rescue Plan (ARP), Medicaid expansion and 12-month continuous eligibility for pregnant and postpartum women will play an important role in ensuring continuity of care and aid in combatting disparities in maternal mortality rates.
During the pandemic, pregnant women and new mothers have had to navigate virtual...
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission voted to recommend Congress create a new value incentive program to reward skilled nursing facilities for good performance. MedPAC also approved a recommendation for Congress to direct the Department of Health and Human Services to develop and begin to report patient experience measures for...Government
The U.S. Department of Heath and Human Services Office of Inspector General conducted a review of 320 hospitals nationwide. The review is designed to provide a national perspective from front-line hospital administrators on how responding to the COVID-19 pandemic has affected their capacity to care for patients, staff and communities....National News
Unsurprisingly, the Affordable Care Act has received a lot of attention and support since President Joe Biden took office. The Act got a boost for its special enrollment period from the American Rescue Plan, despite a hefty price tag. And the Biden administration appointed a friend to the ACA in Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier...Arizona News
23.1% of Arizonans have received at least one shot of the vaccine and 13.1% of the population is completely vaccinated. 81.8% of Arizona's doses have been used so far, with 2.7 million doses administered of 3.1 million doses delivered. Across the country, 34 doses have been administered for every 100 people and 77% of the shots delivered...Arizona News
A new lawsuit brought by AARP contends a CMS policy weakened enforcement of financial penalties for nursing homes and must be reversed to restore protections for nursing home residents.
The American Association of Retired Persons engaged the law firm Constance Cannon to file the lawsuit against CMS and outgoing HHS secretary Alex...Arizona News
Today, Arizona reported 5,629 new confirmed cases of COVID-29, bringing the state total to 641,729 since the pandemic began. There were 191 new deaths reported and the total number of deaths is now 10,673. Deaths recorded today will be retroactively reassigned to the date the death occurred. Arizona's total percent positive is 13.4%....Arizona News
The first COVID-19 vaccines have been shipped and are now in the process of being administered to frontline healthcare workers and other high-priority members of the public. Additionally, the first over-the-counter self-administered COVID-19 tests have passed Food and Drug Administration authorization and will now move to the...National News
Several hospital groups and a hospital pharmacist organization filed a federal lawsuit against the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), representing participants in the 340B drug pricing program who allege that the department has failed to enforce program requirements against drug companies.
The lawsuit says that...Arizona News
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced over $500 million in performance-based stimulus payments targeted to nursing homes. This second round of distribution helps a smaller pool of nursing facilities - those reaching benchmarks in COVID-19 infection and death reduction between September and October 2020.
Over...Arizona News
Last week, President Donald Trump signed a bill for short-term government funding that adjusted guidelines for repayment terms and the Department of Health and Human Services released over $20 billion in subsequent funding. What HHS calls “Phase 3” will include parameters for even more providers and additional payouts.
As reported...Arizona News
Value-based care has been in the forefront of public discussion on healthcare due not only to the COVID-19 pandemic but the election and updates that CMS has recently made. This week, the focus on value-based care has centered primarily on transitioning to value-based care models and the technological possibilities to make these programs...Health Related Groups
According to an undercover audit completed by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office, some health insurance brokers provided misleading or false information to potential customers about whether their plans covered preexisting conditions.
The audit was requested by Senate Democrats with the intention of determining whether...Arizona News
The COVID-19 pandemic and coinciding economic recession are creating big difficulties for state budgets and Arizona is certainly no exception. As people lose jobs, Medicaid enrollment will grow. Experts are estimating between 5 and 15 million new people will enroll in Medicaid programs by the end of the year.
Health Affairs...National News
Last Thursday, the Department of Health and Human Services announced a $2 billion relief fund for nursing homes. This follows $5 billion in support for nursing facilities dealing with the impacts of COVID-19, with other support training and safety improvements to follow.
Skilled nursing facilities, especially senior care...National News
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services granted itself more time to finalize a rule that would revise Stark Law, which prohibits self-referrals by physicians. In a note in the Federal Register, the agency said the rule would not come before the August 31, 2020 deadline and extended it through August 2021.
In a statement to...National News
Pharmaceutical manufacturers are moving to reject 340B discounts through pharmacies and are demanding more data on the program’s efficacy.
Much to the chagrin of hospitals nationwide that have become accustomed to the 340B program, the drug companies are testing the limits of their abilities to challenge regulation...National News
On August 17, a federal judge determined that the Health and Human Services rule rescinding Obama era protections for transgender people is unconstitutional, citing a United States Supreme Court decision from June.
In June, the Department of Health and Human Services put forth a final rule that walked back protections for...Arizona News
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced that it gave $117 million to federally qualified health centers for quality improvement. 1,318 health centers were awarded grants, including 23 in Arizona.
The HRSA one-time grants are awarded annually to health centers that can use the funding to “strengthen...Arizona News
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has strongly encouraged nursing homes to increase their efforts in controlling COVID-19 inside facilities after the number of residents infected reached a record high, and as new deaths have started rising once again.
Arizona is close to reopening nursing homes to visitors after...
