News

Reps. Derek Kilmer, D-Wash., and Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, introduced bipartisan legislation that would make permanent a U.S. Department of Agriculture program that provides rural hospitals with technical assistance to prevent closures, strengthen essential health care services, and improve financial and operational performance.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee passed 15 health-related bills approved by its health subcommittee last week, including bills that would reauthorize the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act, Children’s Hospitals Graduate Medical Education Program, and key programs within the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities (SUPPORT) Act.  

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee voted 17-3 to pass as amended the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Response Act (S. 2333), which would reauthorize the Hospital Preparedness Program at the current funding level of $385 million through fiscal year 2029.

Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., July 19 introduced legislation that would use site-neutral payments to fund community health centers and health care workforce initiatives.

Brian Juncker, managing partner of Strategic Talent Solutions, and Frank Venuto, chief human capital officer at Nebraska Medicine, join this discussion around succession planning and growing the next generation of health care leaders

The Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice July 19 released for comment through Sept. 18 updated guidance () describing how the agencies’ review mergers and acquisitions to determine compliance with federal antitrust laws.

Main Line Health in Bryn Mawr, Pa., yesterday received the 2023 AHA Quest for Quality Prize for its systemwide approach to quality, safety and equity. Atlantic Health System in Morristown, N.J., and University of Chicago Medicine also received Citations of Merit.

During the July 17 Leadership Summit afternoon plenary session, RealClearPolitics Associate Editor and Columnist A.B. Stoddard moderated a panel with AHA leaders, including Stacey Hughes, executive vice president of government relations and public policy; Ashley Thompson, senior vice president of public policy analysis and development; and Chad Golder, senior vice president and deputy general counsel.

Futurist Ian Morrison moderated a plenary discussion on the future of health care transformation with Janice Nevin, M.D., president and CEO of ChristianaCare in Wilmington, Del.; Terika Richardson, chief operating officer of Nashville-based Ardent Health Services; and Warner Thomas, president and CEO of Sutter Health in Sacramento, Calif.

AHA Chair-elect Joanne Conroy, M.D., CEO and president of Dartmouth Health in Lebanon, N.H., opened the afternoon plenary session during Day 2 of the Summit, discussing how the unknowns of COVID-19 forced hospitals and health systems to quickly improvise and innovate.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has posted training slides that partners can use to educate communities about the need for Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program enrollees to renew their coverage and how to find other coverage if they are no longer eligible.

AHA today voiced support for the Protecting Rural Telehealth Access Act (S.1636/H.R. 3440), legislation that would make permanent several telehealth flexibilities provided during the public health emergency.

The AHA July 17 presented its 2023 Carolyn Boone Lewis Equity of Care Award to Meritus Health in Hagerstown, Md.; Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J.; and Rapid City (S.D.) Hospital (Monument Health) for their outstanding efforts to advance diversity, inclusion and health equity.  

The AHA Board of Trustees elected as its chair-elect designate Christina (Tina) M. Freese Decker, president and CEO of Michigan-based Corewell Health. Freese Decker will serve as chair-elect in 2024 and become AHA chair in 2025.

AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack July 16 opened the 2023 AHA Leadership Summit in Seattle discussing the similarities of hospitals to Seattle’s famous innovators solving a problem and improving a service, such as Amazon, Starbucks and Boeing.  

Responding to an Arnold Ventures-backed opinion piece in the New England Journal of Medicine attacking tax-exempt hospitals and the 340B program, AHA General Counsel and Secretary Melinda Hatton says the authors’ disclosure form speaks volumes.

The Federal Trade Commission July 14 voted 3-0 to withdraw two antitrust policy statements related to enforcement in health care markets, calling the 1996 and 2021 statements outdated. The Department of Justice withdrew the same statements in February.  

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration July 17 released a final rule requiring employers in certain high-hazard fields, including health care, with 100 or more employees to electronically submit data from their Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses and Injury and Illness Incident Report once a year beginning in January 2024.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services July 17 released updated guidance for state surveyors assessing ligature risk in hospitals, which pertains to environmental safeguards for patients at risk of harm to self or others.

The White House the week of July 10 released a federal plan for collaborating with the private sector and others to implement the National Cybersecurity Strategy.