Headline
The latest stories from AHA Today.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today issued a proposed rule that would implement additional program integrity requirements for health care providers and suppliers who participate in Medicare, as authorized by the Affordable Care Act.
Arguments that the Affordable Care Act鈥檚 medical loss ratio and rate review standards would protect consumers in the wake of the pending mergers of Anthem with Cigna and Aetna with Humana 鈥渄o not withstand scrutiny,鈥 AHA said yesterday in a letter to two state insurance鈥
There is no evidence that insurance market consolidation leads to greater innovation, according to a study by health economists highlighted in the Health Affairs Blog. 鈥淕iven the history of slow innovation in health insurance, one could argue that a change in insurance markets is necessary to鈥
Hospitals and eligible professionals can attest to meaningful use of electronic health records for the 2015 Medicare Electronic Health Records Incentive Program if they are requesting a hardship exception, according to a new Frequently Asked Question posted by the Centers for Medicare &鈥
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will accept comments through April 5, not April 11, on its proposal to establish a home health prior authorization demonstration, the agency said in a correction notice yesterday.
The Senate Special Committee on Aging today held a hearing on opioid use among seniors. Steven Diaz, M.D., senior vice president and chief medical officer for MaineGeneral Health in Augusta, ME, said his hospital鈥檚 emergency department saw 10 opiate overdoses in patients age 65 or older鈥
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state public health departments are investigating 14 additional reports of possible sexual transmission of the Zika virus, including several involving pregnant women, CDC announced yesterday. Meanwhile, the agency strongly encourages public鈥
The Food and Drug Administration continues to recommend that hospitals and other facilities using automated endoscope reprocessors made by Custom Ultrasonics transition to alternative methods to reprocess flexible endoscopes as soon as possible, the agency said in an update yesterday. FDA鈥
Hospitals with greater reductions in readmissions rates are no more likely to increase their observation-service use than other hospitals, according to a study reported today in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study examines readmission and observation-service rates before, during and鈥
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will implement a new confirmation process in September to ensure that people who enroll in health coverage through HealthCare.gov outside of the traditional enrollment period meet the criteria for special enrollment.