News

In part two of this podcast series, Elisa Arespacochaga, vice president of the AHA Physician Alliance, speaks with Chris Moriates, M.D., assistant dean for health care value at the University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School, and Pamela Johnson, M.D., vice president of care transformation at Johns Hopkins Health System, about how clinicians and hospital leaders are working together to enhance health care value and affordability.

State Medicaid programs must cover medication assisted treatment under a new mandatory benefit.

The AHA responded to a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services request for information regarding whether the agency should include exceptions to the electronic prescribing of controlled substances requirements in the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act.

The AHA Center for Health Innovation has launched the Living Learning Network, a peer-to-peer community where health care professionals can connect, share and learn.

The National Institutes of Health launched the IMPROVE (Implementing a Maternal Health and Pregnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone) initiative, which seeks to improve maternal health outcomes and reduce disparities through research on the causes of maternal mortality and complications.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services launched a website on the rule requiring hospitals to disclose their negotiated rates.

The House Committee on Oversight and Reform launched a two-day hearing to examine pricing practices for some of the nation’s costliest drugs.

The House of Representatives passed by voice vote the AHA-supported Helping Medicaid Offer Maternity Services Act (H.R. 4996), as amended.

An experimental mRNA vaccine for the COVID-19 virus generated a strong immune response in older adults in a phase 1 clinical trial, who generally tolerated it well, the National Institutes of Health reports.

The National Institutes of Health has awarded nearly $234 million to improve COVID-19 testing for underserved and vulnerable populations, such as African Americans, American Indians/Alaskan Natives, Latinos/Latinas, Native Hawaiians, older adults, pregnant women and those who are homeless or incarcerated.