The American Hospital Association (AHA) is pleased to support the Medical Care Access Protection Act of 2013 (S. 44).
Letters
Throughout the year, the AHA comments on a vast number of proposed and interim final rules put forth by the federal regulatory agencies. In addition, AHA communicates with federal legislators to convey the hospital field's position on potential legislative changes that would impact patients and patient care. Below are the most recent letters from the AHA to these bodies.
Latest
We are aware of the guidance the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued in its February 7, 2014 Q&A clarifying that it was not discouraging such subsidies from charitable foundations. Unfortunately, the Interim Final Rule issued on March 14 has created uncertainty regarding HHS’s official position because it did not include the February 7 Q&A’s statement regarding premium and cost sharing payments from charitable foundations.
FDA is aware that there has been an increase in demand for IV saline. Manufacturers of these products have reported that this increase in demand is linked to increased hospital use, which, long with other factors, resulted in a shortage of IV saline in January 2014.
The AHA strongly supports the conclusions and recommendations in the draft report and urges NQF to adopt them as soon as possible.
The AHA, ASHHRA and AONE believe that, in its current rulemaking, the Board has engaged in a process that is unwarranted, unprecedented and contrary to the administration‘s rulemaking goals by resubmitting, in essentially identical form, the Board‘s 2011 NPRM (See 76 Fed. Reg. 36,812).
The AHA supports the cautious exploration of a site-neutral payment policy that applies exclusively to patients who are clinically similar and can safely be treated in either setting.
We support CMS’s goal for Medicare providers and suppliers to have comprehensive emergency preparedness plans and generally think that CMS has chosen the correct framework for the proposed Conditions of Participation (CoPs) and Conditions for Coverage (CfCs).
The AHA supports the three-tier approach included in the proposed regulation for addressing noncompliance with the Section 501(r) requirements.
The American Hospital Association (AHA) is pleased to support your legislation, the Two-Midnight Rule Coordination and Improvement Act of 2014 (S. 2082), to delay enforcement of the Medicare inpatient admission and review criteria (the two-midnight policy).